The Potter Girl
by AddeGranger
Summary: What if James and Lily had a daughter, just before they were murdered? Only their closest friends were supposed to know about her, but the secret's out. But there's one more thing- she has a godfather... Severus Snape
1. Harry's Little Sister

Evolynn Potter watched as her older brother leaned against the snake's glass cage. He was making raspy sounds and it seemed to her that he was talking to the snake...and it was listening! She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times before looking back, but this time was even more queer-she swore she saw the snake nod at something her brother had said. But her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. She had to convince herself of this. But as she moved a little closer to join her brother, a huge force knocked her out of the way.

"MUM! Look what Harry's doing!" shouted her horrible cousin Dudley. He and his friend Pierce shoved Harry out of the way so they could get a closer look. _So I wasn't fooling myself_, Evolynn thought. Dudley saw it too. But at that moment there was a yell of fright and Evolynn was again knocked out of the way by her monster of a cousin. This time though, it was in the opposite direction. Her hands hit the ground first and a shot of pain flew through her wrists. She was outraged at Dudley and humiliated that tears were welling up in her eyes in the middle of the zoo where everyone could see her. Out of nowhere, she heard a splash and she looked up to see that Dudley had flown across the room and landed in the water in the snake's cage.

A shriek issued from her petrified Aunt Petunia. She rushed over to her Diddy-Kins to help him out of the water and out of the reptile house, Pierce following close behind. Evolynn looked over to Harry and saw that he had also been knocked to the ground. He was laughing. When the siblings made eye contact, Harry winked gleefully at his little sister.

But this moment was short-loved. A glance up at their Uncle Vernon's livid face and Evolynn saw that she and Harry were in for it. Uncle Vernon waddled as fast as he could over to where the the small girl sat and grabbed her ear, pulling her up by it. Seeing this, Harry sprang up and rushed over to see where his uncle and sister stood, attempting to come to his sister's aid. But Vernon Dursley was too quick for him. In a matter of seconds the massively fat man had both his niece and nephew by the ear and was leading them out of the reptile house, out of the zoo, and into the car.

"Uncle Vernon," said Evolynn between small cries of pain, (he still had them both by the ear) "that was almost like magic back there, wasn't it?" She smiled at the mixed look of horror and fury on her uncle's face. She, unlike her elder brother, often found joy in infuriating her aunt and uncle by the subject of the M word.

Uncle Vernon's red face turned purple. He let go of both of their ears and slowly pivoted around on his fat feet to face her. "There is no such thing as magic," he hissed. She knew this, she just loved to see his face turn purple.

Evolynn and Harry had been living with the Dursleys for her entire life. When Harry was a year old and Evolynn was only a few weeks old, their parents had been killed in a car crash. The same car crash that had given her brother that funny looking scar on his forehead. This was all the two had ever been told, though. Nothing more. Evolynn, being the more daring of the two, had always ventured to ask questions about her parents. All had been answered with a loud "DON'T ASK QUESTIONS!" from her purple-faced uncle.

When the Dursleys and the Potter kids had arrived home to Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry and Evolynn were sent to their room (the Durlseys didn't want to waste an extra room on one of them) to be without food for...however long Vernon Dursley felt like it. This turned out to be about four days, and on the fifth day when they were finally allowed to come out, the very first letter came. Harry had been sent to retrieve the mail, and when he came back carrying a letter that seemed to be addressed to him, Evolynn wasn't the only one to notice.

"Dad, Harry's got a letter!" cried Dudley. The whole room went silent and still before everyone lunged for the piece of paper in Harry's hand. At last, the three kids were shoved out of the room by a scared-looking Uncle Vernon. There was a silent battle between the three for the position of listening at the keyhole. In the end, Dudley got the keyhole, Harry got to lie on the floor to listen at the crack between door and floor, and Evolynn had to push around between them to find somewhere to press her ear against.

"NO, Petunia, we swore we would put a stop to this!"

"But Vernon, when we send them, they'll be gone! We won't have to worry about them any more!"

Their voices reduced to whispers and the three kids could no longer hear. But they heard nothing about the letter until the next day when three more appeared in the letter box. These too were snatched by Uncle Vernon's meaty fingers and never seen by Harry or Evolynn again. This occurred day after day, each time the amount of letters almost doubling. After a week and a chimney full of letters, Vernon Dursley started to go mad. He packed up his car and brought his whole family with him to only he knows where he was headed. All Evolynn knew was that Dudley was throwing nightly temper tantrums about his lack of television time and the loss of his computer. Before she knew it, though, the car was parked at a beach and soon she was crammed in next to Harry on a tiny row boat out to the ocean. In the distance, she could see an old house perched upon a huge rock. She spoke for the first time all day.

"Why are we going there?" she said, looking right at Uncle Vernon? He ignored her, looking right at the old shack, a look of gleeful malice on his piggy face. A few moments later they were standing in the mess of a house Uncle Vernon had found. The sleeping arrangements were made; Petunia and Vernon in the only bedroom, Dudley on the lumpy sofa, and Evolynn and Harry on the floor.

As Evolynn was falling asleep, she happened to look over at Harry. He was staring at his wristwatch. She saw the digits turn to 12:00 am and she suddenly remembered that her brother was now eleven. She was just about to wish him a happy birthday when a huge crash sent dust flying everywhere and brought a scream from the bedroom.

Evolynn stared in shock as the silhouette of a gigantic man appeared at the doorframe. The shape cleared its throat and stepped into the house.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said gruffly. Gruffly but not unkindly. As she saw her brother stood up, so did Evolynn, and for the first time she saw the man properly. He was enormous, taking up the entire sofa that Dudley had vacated before he sat on it. Promptly, he looked at Harry with small black eyes that just barely showed from beneath his beard.

"Happy Birthday, Harry! Seems like just yesterday yeh was only a baby. And this," he turned to Evolynn, "mus' be Baby Evie," he said with a smile hidden by beard. He reached into one of the many pockets of his coat and withdrew a small white box that appeared to have been sat one at least once. He turned and handed the box to Harry. Evolynn came over to see what was inside as her brother hesitantly opened it. Inside was a cake with green icing that read-

Happy Birthday Harry

Harry opened his mouth to say something but Evolynn beat him to it.

"Who are you?" she asked. The man chuckled and replied,

"Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and grounds at Hogwarts." But Harry and Evolynn simply stared at him. This explanation had not helped them at all. The man called Hagrid's face fell. "Don' yeh tell me yeh two have never heard abou' Hogwarts!" When neither said anything, he turned, outraged, and looked at Uncle Vernon.

"YEH NEVER TOLD 'EM?" he shouted. "Yeh mean ter tell me there two know nothin'?"

"We know stuff," said Evolynn.

"Yeah," added Harry, "you know, math and stuff..."

Hagrid waved his hand dismissively. "'Bout our world. My world, yer world, yer _parents _world."

"What?" they said at the same time.

"Yeh mean ter tell me that yeh didn' ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?" he asked incredulously.

"Learned what?"

"DURSLEY!"

"What am I missing here?" shouted over Hagrid and ignoring the looks Uncle Vernon was shooting her that clearly said, "Be quiet!" But she persisted. "Because if I'm not being told something, I would appreciate someone telling me."

Hagrid looked at both of them. "Yeh two are famous. Not a person in our world doesn' know yer names."

"Famous for what?" Harry asked.

Hagrid again turned to look at the Dursleys. "They know nothin'? They don' even know who they are? I knew they wasn' gettin' their letters but this is too far."

Uncle Vernon spoke for the first time. "STOP! Stop! I forbid you to tell him anything else!"

"Shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune!" Hagrid bellowed. He stared at Harry and Evolynn for a moment before saying, "Yeh're wizards. Both of yeh."

"We're _what?" _said Harry. "That's not possible. I'm just Harry. And believe me, she's nothing special either." Evolynn shot him a nasty look.

"Nothin' special?" Hagrid repeated. "Nothin' special? With parents like yers? I'd be darned if yeh two wasn' thumpin' good ones at that. Now, yeh should see yer letter now, Harry, I should think," he said as he once again reached into one of his many pockets. He pulled out a letter with green ink written across the front that read-

Mr. H Potter

The Floor

House-on-the-Rock

Evolynn watched as her brother pulled out the letter and read it. She tried to move read over his shoulder but Harry pushed her away. She tried to protest but eventually gave it up. A few moments later, Harry looked up from the letter with widened eyes. "What?" she asked, desperate to know what it said.

Instead of answering his sister's question, Harry looked up at Hagrid. "Howarts? Am I really going?"

"O' course yer goin'!" said Hagrid, "Yeh've had yer names on the list since yeh was born."

Evolynn cut in, "What's Hogwarts? And how do you know we're both wizards?"

"Did yeh ever make anything happen? When yeh were angry? Or scared?"

Now that Evolynn thought about it, she realized that all the strange things that had happened to her and Harry could only be explained this way. Like when Aunt Petunia's crystal vase had out of thin air shattered into a million pieces after she had refused to sign Evolynn's permission slip to a field trip to the London Zoo, or when Harry had escaped Dudley and his group of horrid friends by ending up on the school roof, or the time just last week when the glass had disappeared in the reptile house and Dudley had flown across the room and landed in the snake cage.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," started Hagrid, "is the school for our kind. Yeh'll learn all yer magic there-"

"Do I get to go too?" interrupted. She had noticed that Hagrid hadn't handed her a letter.

"Yeh get ter go next year," Hagrid said-as if that should have been obvious. Then, out of nowhere, Aunt Petunia said,

"You mean we'll still have her? When we agreed to take them in, they said that when he turned eleven we would be rid of them!" Hagrid seemed prepared for this because he said, "Don' worry, yeh don' have ter have them any more."

"What?" said Evolynn, confused. "I thought I wasn't going till next year."

"Yer not. Yer going with yer godfather."

This time it was Harry's turn to cut in. "She has a godfather? How come we never knew?" He said this looking at the Dursleys, not Hagrid. The look on his face had the same expression of outrage was the same as Evolynn was feeling.

"Yeah, she's got a godfather. His name's Severus Snape."


	2. Saying Goodbye

"Severus Snape?" The name seemed to remind her of something... something she had lost a long time ago.

"Yep. He's a professor at Hogwarts but he's not able to teach this year fer... Eh... reasons of his own. So yer gonna be livin' with him fer the year before yeh go ter Hogwarts."

Evolynn thought about this for a moment. Then she said, "By myself? Harry will be at the school?"

"Yeah. Yeh'll be there alone. But Harry'll come fer holidays, won' yeh Harry?"

Harry nodded. He looked over at Evolynn, and she could see a mix of emotions in her brother's green eyes; shock, at being told that he was a wizard and that he was going to a wizard school, excitement that he was going to leave the Dursley's to go off and learn magic, but still a little bit of sadness. Sadness for leaving his sister behind. Harry and Evolynn had always been each other's best and only friends. They had never been separated.

"But won't I need to buy things? For Hogwarts, I mean?"

Hagrid had taken out a piece of parchment and had begun to write a scrawled note on it. He didn't look up to grunt a "Yep."

Evolynn saw Harry's face fall. "We don't have any money. How are we supposed so buy things?"

"No money?" asked Hagrid. He seemed almost amused. "Did yeh think yer parents left yeh with nothin'?"

Evolynn hadn't thought of that. But then another question popped into her head. "When do we leave?"

"Well now, Harry'll leave fer Hogwarts on September 1st. I've just written ter Severus, he should be by tomorrow ter pick yeh up?"

She thought about this for a minute. Upon accepting this, she opened her mouth to ask another question, but Hagrid cut her off.

"Big day tomorrow. Yeh better go to sleep."

Evolynn began to protest, but one look caused her to shut her mouth. Deciding it would be easier to follow what Hagrid told her. She saw the angry Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon retreating to their room, and a horrified Dudley following close behind. Harry was slowly laying back down on his spot on the floor and the couch was creaking loudly as if it was in pain under Hagrid's weight. This discussion was over for the night.

Evolynn dreamed that night about magic wands, spells, and godfathers. It was very pleasant until she was rudely awakened by a hard shaking on the shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Harry's green ones close to her own. Instead of looking excited as she thought they would, they looked nervous, and possibly, even sympathetic. "Er... He's here."

_He__'__s__here?__Who__'__s__here?__What__did__I__do?_These were the questions that were flying through her mind as she sat up from her uncomfortable position on the floor. But then she remembered: her godfather was coming to pick her up today.

Harry was still looking at her. "Were is he?" she asked her brother. He pointed his finger in the direction behind Evolynn. She turned, but what she saw was _not_what she had expected. At. All.

The man who was her godfather was speaking to Hagrid in hushed tones. He seemed to not have noticed the kids were awake. From her position on the floor, she could see that he was scowling. His greasy black hair fell in curtains around his sallow face and his nose was abnormally long and hooked. Harry was looking at him skeptically and Evolynn was wondering how this mean-looking man had been entrusted to be her godfather.

Suddenly, Hagrid turned and pointed at Harry and Evolynn. Instead of showing any excitement or even looking remotely happy to see her, Evolynn's godfather looked almost... disappointed to see her. This was really not going the way she had planned, but she decided that since he was showing no signs of making any gesture of greeting, she stood up and said, "Er... Hi." (She had meant for it to sound a bit more confident, but somewhere between standing up and making eye contact she lost all boldness she had previously possessed.

"Hello," he said. The word was drawn from his lips extremely slowly.

The next thirty seconds were so awkward for everyone in the room that it was almost painful. Hagrid shuffled his huge feet, Harry stood, looking from Snape to his sister, and the other two stood and looked at each other. Neither knew quite what to say.

"Shall we be off?" Snape asked curtly. This took Evolynn by surprise. It was all so sudden. It seemed that one moment she and Harry had been locked in their room, enjoying thinking of rude ways to describe their uncle, and the next she was being told she was a wizard and was to live with a complete stranger who was apparently her godfather and was also a wizard.

"I guess so," she said. Realizing that this was now the time when she was going to have to leave Harry behind, she turned to her brother. This was really going to be more difficult than she had thought. She and Harry had always been quite close.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was muffled when Evolynn ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. They stood their for a moment until Evolynn felt a cold, waxy hand grip her shoulder. Since she was wearing a tank top and her shoulder was exposed, she couldn't help but shiver when the icy skin touched he own.

"I believe that will be enough," he sneered. Evolynn bit back tears as she looked back at her brother as Snape led her away toward the door. She saw that his vivid green eyes were also slightly wet with tears. He raised his hand and waved before the door was shut behind her.

"Am I correct in assuming that you have never apparated before?" he asked. Not trusting herself to speak in fear of bursting into tears, she nodded. This was evidently not enough, though because Snape barked, "Answer me!"

"Yes, sir," she said. Sure enough, her voice broke.

"Hold onto my arm," he instructed, and Evolynn did as he said. All of a sudden, there was a loud POP and she felt as if she was being pulled through a tight tube. Everything had gone black. She started to panic- she couldn't breath! She tried to scream but there was no air to do so.

But as quickly as it had begun, it all stopped.

The house on the rock had disappeared. In its place was a huge black house that couldn't even be brightened by the sunlight shining down on it. Evolynn was sure it was the most depressing place she had ever laid eyes on. She could only hope they had appeared in the wrong place.

"Is this it?" she asked meekly.

"This is it," he said, a malicious grin on his pale, waxy face.


	3. House Rules

Snape started to walk towards the door. He took long, graceful strides and soon he reached the door. It was large and black with a beautifully carved brass knocker. When he had reached the door, Snape turned and gestured sharply for Evolynn to hurry up and get to the door. She ran up the long, winding walkway and came to a halt close by Snape.

In the next few seconds, Evolynn witnessed magic for the first time. When Snape knocked on the door, the brass knocker came to life and said, "Password?" Snape answered in a hoarse whisper, "Gillyroot." The door creaked open and Snape slipped in with Evolynn following close behind.

They now stood in a grand entry way, with a black carpet and very little decor on the wall. Snape removed his shoes and instructed Evolynn to do the same. Silently, he pointed his wand at the shoes and they zoomed into a closet down the hall. Evolynn stood, open mouthed, as the closet door close and lock itself. Before she could help it, she was back to being her talkative self.

"When do I get to do that? That was so cool! And you didn't even use a wand! Or say any spells or anything! I cannot wait till I get a wand! Can we go tomorrow-"

"You shall not be able to do magic out of school until you are of age. And you will purchase your wand in a year's time before you go to Hogwarts." He looked at her with stony black eyes. "It seems that there are some rules that must be established. First of all, you shall not address me without calling me 'Sir.' Secondly, the mindless chatter that you seem so accustomed to must cease."

"All right," she said meekly. After a sharp glare, she quickly corrected herself. "All right, Sir."

"Also," he said slowly, "there are some more serious matters that we must discuss. You shall _never_ set foot in my study. When I leave for business you are never to ask what I have been doing because I will not speak of it. When company os over you will be completely respectful at all times and you will only speak when spoken to. Is this understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I will show you to your chambers now. Your things are already upstairs." He started to walk up a grand staircase and Evolynn followed.

"Sir-"

"You may call me Severus." This was rather unexpected, but Evolynn would rather call her guardian by a name, so she went along with it. "Severus, I don't have any things."

"I have taken the liberty to purchase some dresses and other necessities. And because of this," he stopped walking to face her, "there will be no buying frivolous things of no value. I will provide you of what you _need._"

They walked up the rest of the stairs and down a long, dark corridor in silence. At the end of the corridor, they reached a room with a white door. Severus opened the door, and it creaked as it went, as if from lack of use.

Inside the room, there was a canopy bed with a small table next to it. There was a large wardrobe and a dressing table. And in the corner, there was a neat bookcase and a bookcase with several books lining its shelves. Evolynn walked over to the bookcase and ran her finger along the spines. So many titles- none of them were ones she had even heard of before. She could already picture hours and hours filled with books and more books!

She looked back at Snape who was still standing awkwardly in the door frame. "Are these all mine?" she asked. Her brown eyes were widened in a way that almost, _almost,_ made Severus Snape start to have feelings towards this little girl. But no, he pushed any affectionate feelings that may or may not have existed away immediately.

"Yes. Anything you find in this room belongs to you." He turned to leave but stopped and said, "I shall send the elf up with lunch and you will be notified when supper is ready. I am having company tonight."

_The__elf?_Evolynn thought. This was definitely something she was looking forward to seeing! When Snape had exited, she rushed over to the wooden bookcase. The look of the leather-bound books suggested that they had been read before. Had Severus perhaps chosen these books especially for her? Probably not, based on... well... everything about him.

Pushing this disappointing thought of her head, Evolynn reached for a book called _Great__Wizards__of__the__Twentieth__Century_and crossed to her bed. She cracked the spine and inhaled the lovely smell of a used book. She had no idea of how much time passed, but it seemed like only seconds had passed before there was a quiet knock on her closed door.

"Mistress Evolynn? I have brought your lunch," came a squeaky voice. Evolynn slowly opened the door and gasped at what she saw. A tiny, slightly shriveled little creature stood outside her door. It had enormous, floppy ears and thin, bony fingers that were clutching a silver tray that held a roast beef sandwich and a glass of orange, thick... something.

"I'm sorry, but, what is that stuff?" she asked, pointing at the cup.

"Oh! Mistress is not happy with Mitzi's lunch! Oh, Mitzi is so sorry, Mistress! Mitzi will go straight away and fix whatever is wrong!"

"No, no, er... Mitzi. All I wanted is to know what it is! I've just never seen it before- thats all."

"Mitzi has brought Mistress pumpkin juice to drink."

Deciding that keeping her new questions about why the heck someone would want to juice a pumpkin, she gratefully took the tray and went back to her bed to keep reading about remarkable wizards.

An hour later, she had finished _Great__Wizards__of__the__Twentieth__Century_and she had moved onto _Important__Modern__Magical__Discoveries_ when there was another knock on her door. This one was much louder than the first. It was more of a sharp _rap_. Without waiting for an answer, Snape walked into her room. The empty tray was still on her bed and Evolynn didn't even look up when he entered.

"I hate to interrupt you, but I'll have to do it anyway. You must remove your nose from that book for now. My company will be here momentarily and I plan to introduce you to them. Dress and come downstairs as soon as possible."

Snape left the room and Evolynn walked over to the large wardrobe. Inside of it there were five neatly starched, crisp, clean, black dresses. None of them was different from the other, and they were all terribly ugly. None the less, Evolynn donned one and rushed downstairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, a family of three stood talking to Snape. Well, the two stern looking, blonde parents were talking to Snape. Behind them stood a thin, pointed-faced, also blonde boy.

Snape saw her standing at the foot of the staircase and gestured for her to come closer. He turned and addressed the man. "Lucius, this is my goddaughter, Evolynn. Evolynn, these are the Malfoys."


	4. Meeting the Malfoys

"Pleased to meet you," Evolynn said stiffly. The woman nodded curtly and the boy didn't even look up from staring at his feet. The man looked down her nose at her and said,

"Potter? Well, well, well. You and Severus should have a lot to talk about, shouldn't you?" he sneered. He looked over at Snape with a look of just plain meanness. At this the boy looked up and said in an extremely nasally voice,

"Father, you said it was a _boy!_ Harry Potter, the last time I checked, was a boy's name."

Within minutes of meeting this boy, Evolynn already was feeling a great dislike towards him. Remembering that Snape had said earlier that she was supposed to behave and only speak when spoken to in front of company, Evolynn held her tounge. How dearly she wanted to shout at this idiot of a boy. But she reluctantly let Snape do the talking.

"Evolynn is Harry's little sister, Draco. Now, I've had the elf prepare dinner, shall we go and eat?"

The group progressed into the magnificent dining room. There was a large, rectangular table and there was dim light provided by a huge chandelier. Evolynn saw that Mitzi had already set the table. There was a delicious-looking roast chicken and baked potatoes, a salad, and several mince pies. Evolynn's mouth began to water. She hadn't had a _proper_ meal in days. Her stomach growled loudly and the pointy-faced boy sniggered obnoxiously. Embarrassed, she quickly sat down between Snape and Mrs. Malfoy.

When they had all been seated and served, Snape and Mr. Malfoy began to talk of things that Evolynn had mostly never heard of. Many of them had to do with things like the "Ministry" and a man who was apparently called "Fudge" (a very funny name, she thought) and of course, Hogwarts and a man called Dumbledore. (Also a funny name.)

When their conversation slowly came to an end, Lucius looked over at his son and said, "Draco will be leaving for Hogwarts in a few weeks, Severus. He regrets not having you as his potions master for his first year."

"Lucius, we've discussed this. You will not be learning my reasons for taking the year off from teaching this year. And Draco," he looked over at the boy, "I will be returning next year you will have the pleasure of being my student for many years to come." Evolynn got the impression that Snape was thoroughly enjoying poking fun at this boy. Well, she had finally found something the two had in common. She did not see herself getting along well with Draco Malfoy.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. The most remarkable part of the evening was that Evolynn had officially decided that she hated Draco Malfoy. _Poor Harry, _she thought. He would have to spend the next… however many years you went to Hogwarts… with him.

When the Malfoys left, she said goodnight to Severus (a_ very_ awkward event) and headed up to her room. She was extremely tired and as soon as she had her nightgown on and got under her covers, she was asleep. But as she undressed, she was thinking of one thing: her brother. As she climbed into bed, she reminded herself that she had to ask Snape how she could contact him…

Evolynn was, for the second morning in a row, shaken awake very rudely. She opened her eyes, expecting to find Harry, but to her surprise, Snape was standing there. He reminded Harry very much of an overgrown bat. He wore billowing black robes and his black hair fell in the same greasy curtains as the day before.

"Get up." He had already walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out another ugly black dress. He placed it on the bed, indicating that she was to put it on. "We have many things to do today, and I don't have time to waste on your dawdling."

"What do we have to do?" She really didn't want to have Snape see her in her nightgown, but it was apparent that she was supposed to get out of bed, like, _right now_.

Snape was walking toward that door, but he turned before he left to say, "We have to go to Diagon Alley."

_What?_ Her dear godfather seemed to have forgotten that she was new to this whole wizarding thing. But she simply closed the door and put on her horrid black dress, and then walked over to her dressing table and brushed her red hair.

Excited to be going out in a wizard place, she had flown down the corridor and after that, slid down the bannister, she reached the foot of the stairs right in front of a disapproving Snape. Without saying a word, he made it very clear that Evolynn was never to let him catch her do that again.

The two of them went into the dining room and sat down. Mitzi hadn't brought put the breakfast yet so they sat in silence for a few moments before Evolynn blurted out,

"How did you know my parents?"

Snape stared at her. He had not expected her to ask this question or anything like it. Or, maybe he had, but he had hoped it wouldn't be so soon.

"I was in school with them," said. But this was absolutely not be enough for Evolynn. This was the first time she had had someone who she could ask real questions about her mother and father. She had a lot of questions, and she had decided that now was the time that she was going to get her answers.

"You must have known them better than just 'going to school' with them! They made you my godfather for Pete's sake!" Her eyes were widened in the same, imploring, innocent way that they had been the day before in her room when she had asked the books. The way that almost melted Severus Snape's heart. All at once, a torrent of memories came flooding back into Snape's mind.


	5. Sev Remebers

Severus had spent years watching the Evans girl. She was the only child he had ever seen that could do things like he could. He spent years hiding in the bushes, always hanging around the playground whenever she and her sister were there. He finally concluded that Lily was like him and Petunia was not.

"You freaks!" Petunia screeched as she ran away. Severus had just told Lily that he thought… or knew… that she was a witch. "That is a very rude thing to say!" She started to run after her sister. Severus made a move as if to reach out and grab her. He was desperate. He had planned that this day would go so much better.

"NO! Please don't go! It's not a bad thing. You're magic." She stopped and whipped around, her red hair flying around in the breeze. It made her look so pretty…

"How do you know?" she asked. He told her. And this led to more questions. Thy sat down on the playground swings, and talked for hours about the wizarding world. He told her all about Hogwarts, and the Ministry of Magic, and all of the other wonders the world of magic had to offer.

This was the day Severus fell in love with Lily Evans. When she had to go home for dinner, he sat on the swing and watched her run home. She turned when she was about to go around the corner, she turned and waved, her beautiful green eyes sparkling with glee.

This day also marked the start of a magnificent friendship. She loved to ask him questions about the wizarding world, and he would give long, detailed answers. He loved her squeals of delight when she learned a new thing about magic. The day the two of them got their Hogwarts letters, they lay out by a pond near Severus' house and read and re-read their letters.

"What house do you think you'll be in? I know I'll be in Slytherin. My whole family was in it. There's no way I can be in anything else."

"I'm not quite sure. What are the houses again?" They spent the rest of the glorious afternoon laying in the sunshine talking about Hogwarts.

"Evans, Lily," called the stately witch. Lily and Sev had reached Hogwarts and Severus stood, anxiously watching as his best friend sat on a stool in front of the entire school. The Sorting Hat sat on her head for a long time before it finally yelled out, "Gryffindor!"

His heart sank. As she bounced off the stool over to her new table, she gave him a brief, sad glance over her shoulder. But this expression was short-lived. She bounded over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to that Sirius Black. She was later joined by James Potter and Remus Lupin. After a few more names were called, it was Severus' turn to sit on the stool. He looked over to see if Lily was watching, and he caught her eye. She grinned, and he felt the familiar butterflies that always seemed to appear in his stomach when she smiled.

"Slytherin!" called the Hat. He had not expected anything different, but his heart still sank when he saw that he and Lily weren't in the same house.

Over the next few years, Severus and Lily still tried to maintain their friendship. One afternoon in the end of their fourth year, they sat out under a beech tree in the warm spring sunshine. For a while they were silent, Lily staring out over the lake, and Severus looking at Lily. He couldn't help himself. She was so pretty with her long red hair and bright green eyes.

"You shouldn't spend so much time with those boys you call your friends," she said out of nowhere. She turned her head, her green eyes now blazing with disapproval. At his questioning look, she added, "You know exactly who I mean. Dolohov, Yaxley, the Carows. All of you who go around the halls, hexing people left and right. You're better than that, Sev."

He narrowed his eyes. "Oh, and you're so much better!" he said sarcastically. "Potter, Black, and Lupin. They're all arrogant idiots. And I know Potter fancies you!" he said. Lily looked over at him, her eyes now looking a little too understanding.

"They're not my friends, Sev. And you know for a fact that I could care less if James Potter fancies me or not," she said knowingly. Snape looked away, slightly embarrassed. She had a way of talking to him that made him think that she knew everything in her mind.

"And I don't fancy Potter, Sev." She looked him straight in the eyes, and didn't look away until he did.

A year later, everything had changed. Severus was sure that he had ruined everything between him and Lily. She was with Potter now. And he hated him for that.

They went on for their last two years at Hogwarts without speaking. He regretted what he had said so badly it hurt. He didn't know until years later that she had forgiven him for what he had said. He had to live his life out for so long miserable that he had lost the girl he loved so much.

He was driven by this grief to join the Dark Arts. He poured his life into new loyalties to new masters. He was knee-deep in his duties of his high position of Death Eater when he heard the news that Lily had given birth to a baby boy. It was shortly after this that he received the first letter from her. All he needed to read was the first few lines before he had forgiven her for everything- for siding with Potter, for going out with him, for marrying him, for being the mother to his child.

_Dear Sev,_

_I am so sorry. For everything. You were my best friend for so many years, and it was all lost in that one day. It wasn't fair- to either of us, and I wish I could have done it all over. I guess you've heard that I married James. I hope you will forgive me for that. But I do love him. I hope you will forgive me for that, because I know you will be angry. _

_Sev, you have to meet Harry! He is the sweetest baby in the world- and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother. He never cries or gives me any trouble, unless James or I are gone for too long. _

_Sev, I hope we can forget what happened in the past. I wish it had never even happened. I wish I had been there for you- maybe you wouldn't have ended up where you are now. I'm not going to pretend that I don't know what you're doing Sev. And I'm not going to pretend that I approve either. But I do want you back as my best friend._

_Write back soon!_

_Love,_

_Lily_

This was all it took for Snape. He wrote back as soon as she got the letter and the two became fast friends again. Her letters became the highlight of his life. Slowly, he became happier. He finally had something to look forward to in life.

But there was one thing that bothered him. He knew that Lily wasn't telling people that she was friends with Snape again- and he knew the exact reason. She was ashamed of who he had become. And why shouldn't she be? It was because he was a Death Eater. It was for this reason that he slowly began to drop his dark ways. But he went to Dumbledore for a different reason.

He was a high ranking Death Eater. Because of this, he knew about things that the Dark Lord told few others. One of these things was his plan to murder the Potters.

Snape knew why he wanted to murder them.

It was because of him. He had told the Dark Lord of the prophecy.

He had to go to Dumbledore- he was the only wizard the Dark Lord ever feared. He could stop this. So he went to him. He did everything he could to save Lily. He officially pledged his loyalty to Dumbledore, promised to teach there. He placed all of his trust in the fact that Dumbledore would keep her safe.

Several months after he received the first letter, he received this one:

_Sev,_

_I have wonderful news! I'm pregnant again! James and I found out today that it is to be a girl, and we've decided that her name will be Evolynn Serena. And I want you to be her godfather, Sev. I talked to James about it and he said that he would be okay with that. We tried hard to find a girl's name that sounds like Severus, but Serena was the closest we could get. Also, James just loved the name. He's so excited- so am I! We hope you accept!_

_Love,_

_Lily_

_P.S.- We've gone into hiding. Dumbledore told us that he was looking for us. And he told us that you warned him. I just wanted to say thanks for that._

Needless to say, Snape accepted the offer to become Evoynn's godfather. He had even visited the Potters once after she was born to see her. It was the first time he had seen Lily in years and years, and he could only think about how much more beautiful she had gotten. He even was civil with Potter… for her sake.

He got to hold his goddaughter that day. Even as a newborn, he could see Lily in her. Her face was the same shape, her eyes the same vibrant green, and her hair was even the same red as Lily's. Sure, it was only little peach fuzz, but Severus could tell it was going to be just like her mum's.

When he looked at her one-year-old brother, he saw James, but even in him there was a part of Lily; the eyes. In contrast to the black hair he had inherited from his father, he had Lily's striking green eyes.

This night was the last time he ever saw Lily. She hugged him goodbye (to the slight annoyance of her husband) and waved to him as he strode away. She held baby Evolynn in her arms, moving her tiny fists in a way that made them look like she was waving goodbye too.

When Severus heard that Lily and James had been murdered, he was too numb to feel anything. He had trusted in Dumbledore to keep her safe, and he had failed. She was not safe. She was dead.

Dead.

But there was one thing he had to hold onto of her- Evolynn. He went to Dumbledore hours after it had happened to ask him when he should go and collect her. But he soon learned that even this was to be taken away from him- at least until Harry left for Hogwarts. Thenshe would come to live with him.

"She needs to be with her brother- and he needs to grow up away from the wizarding world. The last thing he needs is to live among people calling him the "Boy Who Lived."

Snape heartily agreed with this. _With a father like he had, the boy will most likely be naturally arrogant, _he thought.

"You will raise Evolynn starting from when she is ten years old," said Dumbledore when Snape tried to argue. "You will make Lily proud."

Now, looking at Evolynn again after snapping out of his daydream, he had to do a sharp double-take. Because he swore he saw the girl from the playground.


	6. Learning the Hard Way

_**Hey everyone- so I don't know if you've noticed, and you probably haven't, but in chapter 3 I said that Evolynn' s eyes are brown, but I meant to say green. That is kind of important for the next several chapters. You probably didn't even see that but it was just bothering me. –Adde**_

Severus blinked a few times and stood up. Evolynn was still looking at his, expecting an answer about her parents.

"You are never to mention your parents again!" he barked. She looked taken aback and to Severus' horror, her eyes started to fill with tears. Her lower lip trembled. Humiliated, she turned and tried to wipe her eyes dry.

Snape had to really try hard to not feel guilty about making his goddaughter cry. The girl had only wanted to know about her parents. It just hurt too much to speak of Lily. She would understand later- when she was older.

Around this time, he started to go back to his normal, cold self. There was no time for wishy-washy emotions today. There was work to be done- he needed to go into Diagon Alley and he had to bring Evolynn with him.

"Come," he said. "We have to go into Diagon Alley today and I want to get an early start." From the un-excited expression on his face, Evolynn could tell that he really didn't enjoy shopping- or even the idea of shopping. She hopped up from her place at the table (next to Snape's place at the head) and bounded over to him. She had already forgotten about the incident with her parents and was back to her energetic self.

As they walked down the long hallway, past the staircase and the hall closet and nearing the door, Snape felt something warm and slightly sweaty touch his hand. Evolynn had wrapped her little fingers around his. _Holding his hand._

Snape quickly pulled his hand away. He was not ready (and doubted he ever would be) to hold this little girl's hand. Not at home, not in public- never. Yet, there was this feeling that was almost becoming familiar to him. The one where Snape almost felt affection toward this small, red-headed girl. This feeling was quickly pushed away.

Inside, Evolynn was a little bit amused. And confused- all at the same time. She was amused at Severus' reaction to her holding his hand. She hadn't expected anything different. But she was confused about why she had done it- and she was starting to like him… like a parent that she never had. Of course, she knew that Snape could never take the place of her father, but she was… well… not afraid of Snape any longer.

As the two of them walked out the door and down the winding walkway, Evolynn thought about her disastrous attempt to learn about her parents. All she had done was ask the simple question, and then his face had just clouded over! His eyes went into this almost hypnotized state that was a little creepy. And then he had snapped out of it and yelled at her. From all of this, Evolynn concluded that it would be a wise idea to not to bring up the matter again. At least for a while.

When they got to the huge metal gate, Evolynn was again asked to take hold of Snape's arm. Panic seized her- were they going to have to do that thing again? Where she felt like she was going to suffocate, and then they were someplace else? She opened her mouth to plead with Snape to let them use some other form of transportation, but before she could, it had already started.

This time was even worse- they were spinning round and round, so fast Evolynn was positive that she was going to be sick. This and the fact that she couldn't breathe added up to make a really terrible experience. She was going to be sick! Sure enough, when they stopped moving, she bent over and threw up all over the sidewalk they were standing on. With a glare pointed right at her, and a glance over his shoulder, Snape pulled his wand out of his robes and pointed it at the mess, uttering an incantation under his breath. The throw up disappeared, but Evolynn still felt miserable. She sat down on the curb, and finally realized where she was.

She had thrown up on the sidewalk in the middle of London.

Humiliation written plainly across her face, she turned and looked up at Snape. She then looked around, expecting to see people see people looking at the little girl who puked, but people were actually walking by, not even noticing that she was sitting there. They didn't even seem to see her or Snape. Or the pub they were standing by.

"They can't see it can they?" she asked. Snape shook his head slowly, looking down his long nose at her. "Is there a spell on it?" she said excitedly.

"What do you think?" he asked. _Is there a spell on it?_ What a stupid question. In the farthest back part of his mind, he knew that he should cut her some slack, that she was new to the wizarding world. But still. _Is there a spell on it?_

Embarrassed, she rose from the curb and followed Snape into the dark pub. There were witches and wizards sitting at the tables or milling around the bar. Behind the bar there was a shriveled up, wizened old man with almost no teeth. They all went silent when the two entered.

There were two reasons they all went silent. One was that Snape was in the presence of a child by choice. No one thought they would ever live to see the day Severus Snape would voluntarily be around a child, and a _girl _child at that. The other was that that child was Evolynn Potter.

Whispers of "It's her!" and "I knew she'd be along soon, Harry being here just the other day!" and "She looks like Lily. I knew Lily, you know. We were in the same year," circled the room. Evolynn moved closed to Snape, intimidated by all the people staring at her. He seemed to be moving faster even than normal, and he really seemed like he didn't want to acknowledge them.

When they were only steps away from the door, the first witch approached her. "Miss Potter, I've been dying to meet you. It's a pleasure!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Er, it's my pleasure," she said quite uncertainly. Before anyone else could approach though, Snape opened the door and practically shoved her out of it. The door closed with a bang behind them.

"What the heck was _that _about?" she screeched. She was done with the secrets. Done with everyone knowing things about her that she didn't even know about. She wanted answers and she wanted them NOW. "Tell me what is going on!" A piercing look from Snape made her quickly add, "Sir. Tell me what is going on, Sir." This time she had to add a bit more respect, but it was still very demanding.

Snape sighed. She looked so much like Lily when she was like this. But yes, someone had to tell her, and it was apparently his job to do it.

At the end of the story, Evolynn sat with her jaw hanging open in horror and sadness. She couldn't believe what she had just been told. So much that she didn't even take notice of the busy wizards shopping all around her and the intriguing shops they were shopping in.

Snape had sat her down in a small, dark bar at the end of Diagon Alley, still surrounded by shops, but nowhere near as busy as around Ollivander's or Flourish and Blotts. He had told them the long, terrible story of how the Dark Lord had hunted them down and murdered her father straight away, stepping over his body when as he walked up the stairs to Harry's room. She gasped in terror when she heard of him pointing his wand at her brother's face, and her Lily jumping in front him, giving her own life up to save Harry's.

She was bewildered when she learned of how the Dark Lord had ceased to exist after that night. He had just… disappeared.

She just sat there, looking at Snape. He looked back at her. After about two minutes, she asked, "Why didn't he go into my room?" It was a strange, selfish-sounding question to ask, but she had to know. The Dark Lord must have had his reasons for skipping over her and going for her brother.

What was Snape supposed to say to this? Of course, he knew why. But Dumbledore had told him not to tell her about the prophecy. Dumbledore wanted to tell her and Harry together, and Dumbledore felt he had to be the one to do it.

"He had been searching to find Harry for his own specific reasons that you will learn eventually but not today. Now, we have things to do." He was already standing up. "I expect you will want to look around."


	7. Some Thoughts from Albus Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore was pacing. He did this quite a lot when he was nervous, and this was no exception. Actually, he was more than nervous. That wasn't the right word to describe it. No, he was more anxious. Anxious about Evolynn Serena Potter.

Ten years ago, he had learned of the birth of the Potters' second child. When he heard, he was anxious then also. This was because of the second prophecy that had been made only months after the first. By the same seer. Regarding a brother and a sister. The first had spoken only of the boy- born in July, all of that. The second had mentioned a girl, from the same parents as the boy. Its contents were very troubling, even to Albus Dumbledore.

A mere two weeks later, the Lily and James Potter had been killed, leaving behind an orphaned son and daughter. Up until then, the girl's existence had been kept a secret. For two weeks, he had thought that the girl, at least, was safe. But when word had gotten out that Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, had been found with a practically newborn girl only a few doors down, there was no hope. The whole wizarding world now knew of both The Boy Who Lived and his little sister.

Never for a second had Severus not known about the prophecy- either one of them. He had been the one who had overheard the telling of the first- the one who had spilled the secret to the Dark Lord. But he also knew of the second- being that its subject was his goddaughter. He had to know if he was to keep her safe.

Albus knew that eventually, the girl would start to ask questions. She would-naturally-want to know what had really happened to her parents, why she and her brother were famous, and, if she was as clever as her mother was, Albus knew that she would want to know why Harry had the scar and not she.

His hypothesis had proven correct. Albus had received word from Severus that afternoon that they had gone into Diagon Alley, and sure enough, Evolynn had been automatically recognized. Severus had told that she had been very upset and had wanted to know everything. Despite his growing anxiety, Albus couldn't help but smile when he thought of this child. Even though he had never met the girl, he could already tell that she was Lily and James' daughter. According to Severus she was bursting with energy and ready to get into trouble like her father, but clever like her mother. And apparently she had inherited her mother's fine looks too.

Looking at his wristwatch, Albus decided that he had better stop pacing and go back to his desk. Severus had requested a meeting this evening and he was due to arrive any second now. Crossing the room, he sat down in the large chair behind his desk. Seconds later, there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Come in, come in," Albus said airily, as if he hadn't been worrying at all.

The door opened and in came Severus Snape. He had on his usual billowing black robes and scowl. "Good evening, Dumbledore," he said in his cold voice. Albus smiled warmly and said,

"And a very good evening to you too, Severus. I expect you are doing well."

"I'm fine, Albus. Now, I haven't much time. I've come here to discuss a certain matter with you."

"You mentioned in your owl that she asked why Lord Voldemort attacked Harry and not herself. I was not surprised when I heard this, Severus. She seems to be on the bright side. Now, might I ask how you answered this question?"

"I told her that the Dark Lord had his own reasons for attacking her brother and that she would find out later." He said this very matter-of-factly, as if it was the obvious thing to say.

"Well now Severus, how did she react to this response?" Dumbledore asked. At this, he had to fight the temptation to chuckle. Severus had never really had a gift with children. Albus couldn't hide the amused twinkle in his eye.

Snape rolled his black eyes and said rather sharply, "She was clearly unhappy with the response. I could tell that she wanted to know more. But certainly, Albus, you can't tell me that you think that I should tell her? You told me that you wanted to tell the two of them together, and that you had to be the one that told them. I agree that she's bright, but-"

"That's enough, Severus. Yes, you were correct in telling her that she couldn't learn the true reasons behind Voldemort's attack." He paused for a moment before saying, "Well, is this all you wanted to discuss?"

"Yes. I just thought that you ought to be informed that she was already asking questions." He stood up to leave. When he had almost reached the door, Albus said in an understanding tone,

"You are going to have to tell her about her parents eventually, Severus. She deserves to know the truth."

Snape had stopped walking. For a moment he hesitated, like he was going to say something, but he must have changed his mind, for a second later, he had slammed the door shut behind him.

*** Hey everyone! If you have some ideas for an OC, in Evolynn's year, the son or daughter of a death eater, let me know! Tell me the name, appearance, personality, blood-status. It's gonna be like Evolynn's Draco Malfoy:) thanks**


	8. Where Are You Going?

It had been three weeks since Evolynn had started living with Snape. She had spent her days mostly reading. She had learned so much about the wizarding world- things that she now thought simply part of everyday life. Things like the fact that people could go from one place to another by using a special power in the fireplace, and that people also sent letters by owls.

As soon as she had heard this part, she had made a point to ask about it that night at dinner. It was, as usual, a quiet affair. Evolynn had learned that if she didn't start them, conversations would not happen. And even then, they were short and to the point.

"How come we don't have an owl." The use of the word "we" did not go unnoticed by Snape.

"I do own an owl," he said. He had looked up from his plate of salmon that Evolynn knew for a fact Mitzi had spent half the day preparing. She stared at him expectantly, her eyes clearly reading: Well?

Her look was evidently not enough, though. After answering her question, Snape had resumed eating. "Um, where is it?" she asked. Annoyed, Snape looked up yet again and looked at her for a moment before saying,

"It is in its cage in my bedroom." Once again, he assumed this to be enough. The brief answers were beginning to get on Evolynn's nerves.

"Well, can I use it?" she demanded- maybe a little to demandingly. Snape looked up more quickly this time and shot her a look that made it clear he was not going to be spoken to like this.

"Sir, may I please use your owl?" she said, biting back words of frustration. She pursed her lips and stared at him. He was taking his time to chew, probably enjoying making her wait.

"That depends on your purpose," he said dryly. "Who do you so desperately need to contact?" He had placed his fork down on the side of his plate and folded his hands, ready to talk. His stony black eyes were narrowed.

"It's no big deal," she said defensively. "I just wanted to send my brother a letter."

The two of them stared at each other, Snape's black eyes narrowed in thought and Evolynn's green ones wide with anticipation. Finally, Snape said,

"I suppose... But the owl must return to me immediately after you send the letter. And if, for any reason, you receive a letter not addressed to you, you are, under no circumstances, to read it."

"Okay, okay. Geez..." She caught herself before he could even glare. "Sir."

This was not the first time that Evolynn had suspected that Snape was keeping things from her, and this letter business only added to her theory. She was positive that there were things she wasn't being told- and if there was anything that bothered her in the world, it was not being told things.

Snape had been gone a lot lately. Twice, she had been left alone with Mitzi overnight. Not that she minded being alone, but she did mind not knowing why... and she had gone right up to her godfather and asked him where he had been going and why. After she had done it, though, she automatically regretted it. She remembered all too soon after she had done it that she wasn't supposed to ask where Snape went when he was on business. His eyes were colder than usual and instead of looking his normal creepy, now he just looked plain scary. Evolynn backed away, hoping that she wouldn't be punished.

"Go to your room. Don't come out until I tell you to," he said through clenched teeth. His lips barely moved when he spoke.

But as he watched his goddaughter hurry away up the stairs without even shooting back a reproachful look- a move that would have been much more... Evolynn. She just ran up the stairs, but not quickly enough for him not to see the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly, he felt a slight pang of guilt. This, like the more and more frequent feelings of affection, was harder to push away than it used to be. But he did it. She had broken his rules, and she deserved to be punished for it.

And besides, she had no right to know what he was doing when he was away. Actually, her knowing would endanger the whole process. Knowing how she was, she would run straight up to her room and find some book that had information, and read all about it. Having a child know about his mission would be a disaster. Plus, it was a rule. Snape had thought that he had made this very clear the very first day she had been here.

Up in her room, Evolynn sat angrily on her bed. She was angry with Snape, she was angry with his stupid rules, and she was angry with herself. It was her own fault, really. He had told her that when he was away on business, she was never to ask where he was going. She had broken the rule.

All of this, though, only made her want to know what her godfather was doing even more. It almost pained her to not know.

That evening, when Mitzi brought up her dinner tray, (chicken with some kind of salad on the side, and a bottle of butterbeer) Evolynn decided to ask her a question.

"Mitzi, do you know where my godfather went?" The elf stood still, her ears flopping down, almost covering her enormous eyes. She started to fidget around, uncomfortably shuffling her feet in a way that made her look like she had to go to the bathroom very badly.

She looked up from staring at the floor and said in her high-pitched voice, "Mistress, Mitzi knows many things. Mitzi knows things that Master Severus doesn't want Mitzi to know."

"Brilliant. Now, Mitzi, tell me what you know. This is an order." Evolynn had realized that if she told Mitzi that something was an order, she would do it. She kept telling herself that it wasn't really taking advantage of the elf, just... Yeah, she hadn't really convinced herself on that one.

Mitzi was still shuffling around, torn between obeying her Mistress or keeping her master's secrets. After almost three minutes of shuffling and strange, anxious movements, she finally caved in.

"Mitzi has overheard Master Severus' conversations with his friends, Mistress. Mitzi has heard of Master's schemes, and Mitzi has even heard many things about..." she stopped for a moment here, as she had to force the words out, "about the Dark Lord."

"The Dark Lord?" Was there another Dark Lord, or was this the same one who killed her parents? "Why was he talking about the Dark Lord?"

"Mistress," now Mitzi looked confused. "Is you not knowing of Master's past?"

"No, I's, I meant, I don't know."

"Master Severus was a Death Eater, Mistress. How is you not knowing?"

This was a question that Evolynn answered as well. Why was she living with a supporter of the man who killed her parents? There was no way Snape was getting out of this one. She was going to know.


	9. The Ugly Tattoo on His Arm

**Hey guys! It feels like such a long time since i've written! But life just kinda got in the way... had to read Dracula by Bram Stoker for school- which is a very long, very old for those of you who don't know. Normally i don't mind long, but it was extremely slow! Sorry, Mr. Stoker... And Halloween! I posted a one-shot last night about lupin when he got turned into a werewolf- i imagined it happening on Halloween but i was a day late. Anyway... ill stop droning! enjoy:)**

Snape had arrived home again after two days and nights. He had expected some kind of greeting from Evolynn but to his surprise, she didn't even acknowledge his arrival. She wasn't one to stay mad for long, he thought. But thus was beginning to be proved false. Even at dinner, she didn't even look up from her plate during the whole meal. The only sound was that of forks hitting the plates and knives grinding against the plates. Snape saw that his goddaughter was purposely avoiding his eyes and her lips were set in a firm, set line- just the way Lily's had looked when she was angry.

Snape spent most of the meal trying to think of something to say that didn't sound too... what was the word... apologetic. He had done nothing wrong. When she was done eating, Evolynn slammed her fork down on the table and shoved her chair back so it scraped the floor. She started to stomp up the stairs but stopped when she heard Severus' quiet, cold voice call her name.

"Evolynn," he droned. "I don't recall your asking to leave the table."

"You don't recall it because I never did it," she muttered as she sulked back over to the table.

"You may be surprised to hear this but I _can_ hear you when you talk under your breath like that," he said sarcastically. She sat down and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You look like a four-year-old when you mope like that. I will ask you only once to stop," he said. But instead of doing as he said at once as she usually did, Evolynn kept on pouting like she hadn't even heard him. She only rolled her eyes and kept her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

Snape was at a loss. He had virtually no idea what to do with this child when she acted like this. The only children he had experience with were the ones he taught, and they all seemed afraid of him and did whatever he told them to do. Well, for the most part. There were the Weasley twins, who gave Snape a headache to think about, but that was aside the point. This was not something he was accustomed to, and he had no idea what to do about it.

After a very long few minutes, Evolynn couldn't stand it anymore. "How could you?" she said in a quiet, uncharacteristic voice.

"What is the great offense that I have committed, Evolynn?"

"You were one of them. One of his followers. And don't try and tell me that I'll find out when I'm older or that I'm "forbidden" to ask you about it. He killed my parents," she said. Her voice was now on the verge of breaking. "And you followed him."

Snape sat there for a long time, not sure what to say. It was all true, every word she said. And deep down, Snape knew that she had the right to know. But it was also his past, and his business. Evolynn wasn't supposed to have known about this. She had been snooping in places she had no right to be in. Had she gone into his study?

"How do you know this?" he barked. His eyes were narrow black slits now and the glare he gave caused Evolynn to uncross her arms and sit up straight, but then sink back into her chair. Her palms were getting sweaty. She knew she had crossed a dangerous line.

"What I did or did not do in my past is my business and not yours. I'll thank you to not invade my privacy again," he said.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no! I want to know the truth- all of it! I know you're keeping things from me. All my life, people have kept the truth from me and I can't stand it. It's not fair to tell me half of the story and not the rest. You told me that the Dark Lord had his reasons for hunting down my family, but you won't tell me what they are. You tell me that you went to school with my parents but not how you met them or how long you knew them. I'm sick of it!"

Snape took a deep breath. What the girl said was true. She had an uncanny knack for stating the bold truth, no matter how awkward.

"Yes. It's true. I was a Death Eater when the Dark Lord was powerful." He paused and pulled up the sleeve of his robe to reveal a faded, but still very visible tattoo of a skull with a snake writhing in and out of the open jaw. She wrinkled up her nose.

"Why on earth would you get such an ugly tattoo?" she asked. And she meant it with all her heart. If you were to get a tattoo, at least get something nice to look at.

"It is not a tattoo," he said irritably. But he had to remember that she was still new to all this. He also had to remind himself that Evolynn was ten. "It is the Dark Mark." At her confused look, Snape added, "The Dark Lord's sign."

"I became a follower of the Dark Lord very shortly after I left school but left the Death Eaters when I discovered that he was going to kill her."

Evolynn stopped herself from asking who "her" was. She knew perfectly well who it was. But she had one last question.

"Why did you join in the first place?" This was one that she had been thinking about for a ling time. She sat and stared at Snape for a long time, waiting for an answer to a question she thought very simple and direct.

But Snape thought otherwise. In fact, he thought quite the contrary. This was not a simple question at all. He didn't even know the answer to it. Deciding that this little heart-to-heart had gone on long enough, he said,

"You've learned more than you should." Thinking of the trouble he could get in for saying even this much- for showing a ten-year-old the Dark Mark, he sent Evolynn up to her bedroom. Was raising this girl really going to be so hard? If she was this trying now, he shuddered to think what she would be like in a few more years...

Evolynn laid in her bed for hours that night, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. So many thoughts weighed upon her mind. She couldn't help but wonder if she was really being told the whole truth this time. Severus had seemed so reluctant to talk about it that she wouldn't be surprised if he had left out some key point. But maybe it was better this time to just believe that for once she wasn't being cheated out of information.

There was one other thing though- did she forgive him? How could she forgive him for being one of his followers? To console herself of this, she had to remind herself that he was her godfather, and her mother and father wouldn't put an evil person in charge of her... Right? Well, how could she know- she had never really met them. Thanks to the man Snape had been faithful to during the Wizard War. It was all just so confusing!

With all this on her mind, she barely got any sleep, and the sleep she did get was filled with green flashes of light and the sound of a weeping man.

Also, ugly tattoos.


	10. Breaking Another Rule

In the morning, Evolynn went down to the breakfast table to find Snape already finishing his eggs. She had overslept that morning and was late in getting downstairs. Snape pushed his chair back and was about to leave the dining room when Evolynn moved over to block the door way. He looked down his long nose at her, waiting for her to move. She looked up at him, waiting for him to say "good morning." She grinned up at him and he could see that she was back to normal.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, growing impatient. Evolynn noted that he too was back to normal. The way she liked him- not all emotional or anything. Just cold, judging and um, all of those kind of words that described her godfather. She loved the way that he grimaced every time she smiled at him, and barely muttered goodnight when she said it to him. She loved this because in the end, she knew that he really did like her. They had fallen into the habit of him saying good morning and her saying good night. It was just what they did.

Realizing what she was waiting for, he said irritably "Good morning, Evolynn. Now please get out of my way. I'm extremely busy today."

"Wait!" she said as Snape pushed past her. "You promised that I could use your owl. I want to send Harry a letter."

Apparently aghast, he turned around very fast. "Why would you want to something like that?"

"Um, well… he's my kinda my brother." He still looked like that was a very bad idea. "Would that be okay?" she said. She thought it was a reasonable suggestion but he was making it way harder than it needed to be.

He sighed very loudly and said, obviously getting tired of this conversation, "Okay, you may use the owl. I shall have the elf bring it up sometime today."

Evolynn frowned and said to Snape's back as he walked away, "She has a name, you know. It's Mitzi. You should know that. She's your elf." Snape chose to ignore this (in his opinion) rude comment. He marched up the stairs and turned the corner in the corridor and swept down the narrow hallway to his study, where he spent most of his time.

Once inside it, he locked the door and went over to his desk. Lying on top of it were several letters and papers and such, the one on top was a letter from Albus Dumbledore that had arrived late last night. It read:

_Dear Severus,_

_I must apologize for my lateness in writing to you. I, and I assume that it is the same for you, have been very busy. But I do wish to inform you that young Mr. Potter has been sorted into Gryffindor as his mother and father before him. He seems to be prospering there, seeing as he has already made the house Quidditch team as the Seeker, just as his father._

_Now, Severus, we have some business to attend to. You and I both know that there is a teacher in Hogwarts that is certainly up to no good. For fear of this letter being read by eyes other than yours, I will not name the person, but you know as well as I do who they are. We have discussed what to do about the said professor, but matters are pressing. I fear that the boy might be in danger. There is no solid evidence yet but I have a very bad feeling-worse than before- about the whole thing._

_Since we also have no proof that the said professor is guilty, I must ask once again that you say nothing about the matter to anyone. Awkward questions would begin to arise- starting with "Why don't you just fire the teacher?"_

_Well, I just thought that I should update you on an old man's life. I certainly hope Evolynn is well and that you too are coping._

_Sincerely, _

_Albus Dumbledore_

Snape reread the letter again. For a moment he just stared at it, wondering what kind of danger the boy could be in within the first month of school. If he was anything like his father, he was probably strutting around the school, showing off his position on the Quidditch team, sticking his nose where it didn't belong, maybe stealing people's only friends… Things like that.

It was things like this that made Snape have a very hard time liking even the thought of Harry Potter. He could sit for hours thinking about how much he loathed James Potter's memory, but he had other things to do. He had decided that morning at his oddly solitary breakfast that he should pay Dumbledore a visit. He tucked the letter back into its envelope and left the study.

As he walked down the hall, he thought of how quiet breakfast had been without Evolynn there. He had grown used to her chattering away in the morning. Was she always going to sleep in like this? Snape found himself thinking about what it would be like when Evolynn left for Hogwarts. He almost resented the thought. As much as he hated to admit this (though he would never say it aloud) Evolynn had, in her words, kinda grown on him. He actually liked having her around sometimes.

"What the heck is wrong with me?" he asked himself.

Evolynn stood in her room, waiting for Mitzi to bring up the owl. After half an hour with no owl, she decided to take it upon herself to get it. When she heard the front door close with a bang downstairs, she slipped out of her room and tiptoed down the corridor, trying every door she saw. All were locked until she got to the end of the dark corridor. She turned the handle on this one and it creaked open.

Inside was a room lined with bookcases and a desk in the left corner. There were windows but there were thick black drapes covering them. The hardwood floor didn't have a single scratch. Eerie candle light gave the room a very creepy feel.

"This is so his study," she muttered to no one in particular. The room just screamed Severus Snape. Forgetting any rules against it, she entered the study and started to walk around. For about ten minutes, she looked at the books that lined the shelves. Most of them were either potion books (Advanced Potion Making) or Dark Magic books (Magic Most Evil). She wondered if she could "borrow" one or two without him noticing. Not likely, she thought. He probably counts them every night.

When she was done with (or, when she tore herself away from) the books, she moved over to the desk. She knew she was snooping, and she was going to leave, but then she saw something highly interesting. On his desk, peeking out of an envelope, there was a picture of a redheaded woman holding a tiny, also redheaded baby. They both had green eyes- the same as Evolynn's. With a bolt of excitement, Evolynn realized that must be her mother, and the baby must be herself. Before she could think of how much trouble she would be in if Snape found out, she reached out and grabbed it. Forgetting about finding the owl, she dashed back to her room and closed the door.

When she was completely sure that nobody was watching, she pulled out the contents of the envelope. It read:

_Dear Sev,_

_Thanks so much for coming the last night. It was so good to see you after such a long time. I know Evie enjoyed meeting you. She kept giggling after you left- James had quite a time putting her to bed. But I know she liked having you there. Harry did too, but he was too busy with the toy broomstick Sirius sent him for his birthday (yes, after three months he still loves it) that he barely stopped to say hello. James reckons he'll be a Seeker. I wouldn't be surprised._

_Another thing- I just wanted to comment that it was so cute (excuse the word, but it's true) to see you holding her like that, Sev. If I lived to be one hundred, I don't think I ever would have guessed that I would ever see you voluntarily holding a baby. Probably not something you would have picked up from your Death Eater friends._

_I want to thank you, Sev, for leaving the Death Eaters. I know you are a better person than that, and you know that as well. I want you to be able to walk around and not be labeled as one of his followers. It really means a lot to me._

_I've enclosed a few pictures. One of me and Evie and one of all four of us. It's so funny, I swear she loves to have her photo taken! James wants to dress her up for the Muggle holiday, Halloween, but I said no. There's no point anyway, since we're all stuck in the house. Well, I have to go. I'm afraid Harry's just broken a lamp or something._

_I hope you can come visit again soon- maybe you can come for dinner soon. I hate that you are still living in that huge old house all alone. That place has always given me the creeps, ever since we were kids!_

_Thanks again for coming! Evie says hi._

_Love, _

_Lily_

When she was done reading, Evolynn looked back at the picture again. Her mother looked so happy. This must have been only days before her parents were killed, since it was just before Halloween and based on the picture, Evolynn was only a little tiny baby.

It was a little strange to think of herself being called Evie. She had never let anyone call her that, not even Harry. But thinking back, she remembered that that was what the man called Hagrid had called her- Baby Evie. It seemed like a nickname only a mother could use.

So Snape had come to her house. He actually held me when I was a baby, thought Evolynn. This was an odd thought. Snape didn't seem like the baby type. But he also didn't seem like the ten-year-old girl type, yet here she was. Still, she couldn't quite imagine Snape holding a little baby in his arms. He just wasn't the type.

When Evolynn looked back down at the picture again, she noticed that it was_ moving._ Lily would smile at the camera and then look down at Evolynn and then take her tiny fist in her hand and move it back and forth so it looked like Evolynn was waving. Smiling, Evolynn realized that her baby self really did look like she was enjoying having her photo taken. Her little green eyes were wide open and once, Evolynn swore she saw little her smile. In the background of the picture, every once and a while a little boy on a small broomstick would zoom by, and when he did, Lily would turn around in alarm and shout something at him. Then she would turn back to the camera and laugh.

Her mother really was pretty, Evolynn thought. She hoped that was what she would look like when she grew up. Lost in daydreams, Evolynn didn't realize how much time had passed. She had meant to put the letter and picture back before her godfather got back home, but out of nowhere, she heard the door slam shut. She gasped in horror and tired not to think of the eyes of death Snape would give her when he discovered, as Evolynn knew he would, that she had been in his study. Now she remembered vividly the rule of "You shall never set foot in my study."

Acting on impulse, Evolynn darted from her room and down the hall, picture and letter in her hand. Too late she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Not thinking, she kept running- and knocked right smack into her godfather as he was coming up. He was all too quick to notice the letter and picture she clutched in her hand.

Here come the eyes of death, she thought, bracing herself for what she knew came next.

"Where," he said through clenched teeth, "Did you get that?"


	11. Starting to Realize

**Hey all- before i start im gonna take a moment to be ultra cheesy. I just wanted to thank people who have been following my story/reviewing. It totally makes my day to get an email from FanFiction! Ok, now im done. thx:) **

**this chapter is super short and fluffy but i promise the nxt one will be longer and the really good stuff will start.**

**(btw i own nothing of harry potter. thats jkr's. i just have fun with it)**

Snape knew she had been in his study from the look on her face. He knew she had read the letter. Knowing this, Evolynn decided that hanging around here was kind of pointless and she pivoted around and dashed to her room. Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against it for a long time, waiting for the footsteps coming to her door that would never come. She wanted him to come and talk to her, yell at her even. Anything would be better than him just ignoring her. As much as she hated it, she felt the beginning of tears in the farthest back part of her eyes. She felt her lip begin to tremble. She bit it hard, but it didn't work. She felt one, two, three tears drip down her nose and onto her ugly black dress. Soon she was face-down on her bed, bawling her eyes out. Her body shook uncontrollably. The fact that Snape didn't even notice made it worse.

But he did notice. He had gone back to his study and tucked away the letter, locking it in a drawer with every other letter from her that he could find. He was still seething with rage over the fact that his most important rule had pretty much been snapped in two. She had deliberately disobeyed him. He had made it perfectly clear that she was never to enter his study, and she had gone right ahead and entered it. And she had read the letter! She now knew that he had been close to Lily, and knowing her she would ask questions... and throw a fit when he didn't answer them in complete detail. Merlin's beard, how am I going to get out of this one? he thought. He had a feeling this wasn't just going to go away of he ignored it for a long enough time. Around this time, he heard the muffled sobs from down the corridor. She was crying! Actually crying. Snape had only seen kids cry in his potions class, and then all he had had to do was tell them to shut up, and they did. Evolynn was definitely not that easy.

He slowly opened his door and creeped down the hall. His plan: to enter her room and tell her that it wasn't this big of a deal and that all he was going to do was punish her, and that it really wasn't worth crying over. When he was feet away from the door, he stopped. How awkward was this going to be? He certainly hoped she wasn't going to expect him to touch her or anything. That was _never__going__to__happen_. No hugs, no hand holding, not even a little pat on the shoulder. NO. Severus Snape was just not a touchy-feely kind of person.

When he entered the room, he considered leaving. But she had already looked up and seen him. Her eyes were red and puffy- he had seen those eyes before. Only once. Not a happy day.

_"__I__don__'__t__need__help__from__filthy__little__mudbloods__like__her.__"_

_ "Fine. I won't bother in the future."_

These were the words Lily Evans had said on the day he lost her what he thought would be forever. In days that followed, he purposely walked past the Gryffindor table at every meal, ran in the hallways to catch up with her, and even waited outside the portrait hole for her one night. All were fruitless efforts to apologize to Lily. Each time she was either surrounded by protective friends or she flat-out ignored him.

Several times in those days he saw her with her eyes all puffy and red like that. He hated himself for making those eyes that he loved so much look so sad and hurt. He hated himself for it then and he hated himself for it now.

When he snapped out of the flashback, he looked over at the girl on the bed. She was so much like her. Why did he have to do it every time? If Evolynn hated him now too, then he will have completely lost everything he had of Lily.

Evolynn sat up. She had wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her sleeve. After swallowing a few times she said,

"You loved her. I know it by the way you never talk about her. Never say her name. And I know she knew. I could tell by the letter."

Why did she have to be so irritatingly smart?

"But I know that it's none of my business so I'll stop. I just want you to know you can trust me." Before Snape could do anything about it, Evolynn had leaped of the bad and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. She buried her face in his robes and stood there, comfortable with the fact that Snape wasn't hugging her back, happy with the fact that he hadn't pushed her away.


	12. Birthdays

**Hello! So this week I'm in birthday mode... because... its my birthday on Wednesday!:) so excited! so yeah, you'll notice some birthday stuff in this chapter. its my own little way of celebrating. Well... i don't have anything else to say. Enjoy:) (btw this is fluffy too)**

September passed into October, and before Evolynn knew it, she was a year older. On October 24, she was woken by Mitzi knocking at the door. When she opened it she saw that the little elf was carrying a tray that probably weighed almost as much as she did. Nonetheless, she smiled up at Evolynn and squeaked,

"Mitzi is wishing a happy birthday to Mistress Evolynn!" As she spoke, her knees started to shake and look as if they were going to collapse. "Mitzi has brought Mistress breakfast!" she panted. Before she was crushed beneath the tray, Evolynn took it from her and carried it over to her bed. She was sure she heard a long, relieved gasp for air from the elf when she did. On the tray was scrambled eggs, toast with jam _and_ butter (her favorite), bacon, pumpkin juice, and an oddly package wrapped in the Daily Prophet from yesterday.

"Mitzi," Evolynn gasped, "did you get me a gift? You really didn't have to!" But the elf insisted that she open it, saying that she was just happy to make Mistress happy. Inside the package was a bottle of Butterbeer. "Thank you so much Mitzi! This is great. How did you get it?"

"Oh Mistress, Master Severus is keeping a large amount in the kitchen! All Mitzi had to to is take one of the bottles."

Laughing at the idea of Snape enjoying the same drink as her, she thanked Mitzi again and sat back down on her bed to eat her huge breakfast. Then it dawned on her- this was her first real birthday present. At the Dursley's she had received a hanger. Every. Single. Year.

She wondered if Snape had gotten her a present. She doubted it, really. He certainly hadn't said anything. But how knows, she thought. Maybe her godfather would surprise her.

Before she had even made a dent in her scrambled eggs, she heard something at the window. A tapping, no, more like something scratching at the glass. She jumped up and ran over to the window. She almost screamed, but after she felt really stupid. Waiting patiently outside the window was a magnificent snowy owl. In its beak it had an envelope, and it was clearly was trying to deliver it to her.

Preparing herself for the cold burst if air she knew would follow the open window, she unlocked it and pushed it out. The window creaked, complaining about not being used in such a long time. When the owl flew in it dropped the letter on the bed, and without even stopping to rest flew right back out again.

"Well that was rude," she called after it. Then she realized that she was talking to an owl. And that is weird.

In her curiosity about the letter, she forgot to close the window and went straight over to her bed. With a jolt in her stomach, she recognized her brother's handwriting. Smiling, she opened the seal and read Harry's letter.

_Dear Evolynn,_

_Happy birthday! I wish I could say it in person, but this will have to do. Hogwarts is fantastic! You're going to love it. And I've made some friends. My best mate, Ron, has got a sister your age and you two can be friends next year. And there's this girl, Hermione Granger, she's a complete pain. But she likes reading and school and stuff like you. I want to see how you get along with her! _

_I've been sorted into Gryffindor house. Mum and Dad were in Gryffindor as well. I'm sure you will be too._

_I heard some things about your godfather from older students. Apparently he's a real git. I hope you're getting on well enough there. I hope you're being careful, too. Ron told me that he was a follower of the wizard who killed Mum and Dad, Ev. I wouldn't trust him._

_Anyway, I hope you have a great birthday and that you are happy where you are. I'm not sure when I'll see you next, but I can't wait for it._

Harry

This was better than a present, Evolynn thought. She had been really close with her brother, but she still worried on occasion that he had better things to do than write her now that he was at Hogwarts.

After reading the letter about three more times, she decided that in her next letter, she would have to tell Harry that even though Severus _used__to__be_a Death Eater, he wasn't anymore. She didn't like that Harry didn't trust Severus. She would just have to stick her nose in there and fix that.

Noticing that the sun was all the way up now, she hurried herself in getting dressed and going downstairs. Snape wasn't in the dining room or the large living room. Hoping that he hadn't left on her birthday, Evolynn wandered around the house looking for him. Finally she reached the tiny parlor. She had never been so far back in the house. It was news to her that they even had a parlor. But they did. And here was Snape, sitting down on the dusty chair farthest away from the window. He seemed to have been waiting for her.

After about a minute of awkwardness, he stood up. Going over to the cupboard, or bar, or whatever that thingy was, he picked up a little box wrapped in blue paper and tied with a black ribbon.

Festive, Evolynn thought. But she didn't say anything. He was trying his best.

Snape stood before her, holding out the box. "Happy Birthday," he said stiffly. She didn't take it- just stood there, dumbfounded. "Do you want this or not? It's for you. Take it."

She did as told, taking the box and unwrapping it in an uncharacteristically slow way. First untying the bow, then taking off the paper, trying not to rip it too much. Inside was a small black box. Upon opening it, she saw that it was a necklace. A silver pendant of a flower.

A lily.

Looking up at Snape, Evolynn felt a hot tear fall down her cheek, unable to be stopped.

"Thank you, Severus."

Snape didn't want her to cry. He also didn't want to do what he did next, but he did it any way. He knelt down on one knee so he was eye level with his goddaughter.

His Evie.

He reached a hand out and wiped the tear off her face. She smiled. Even though his fingers were cold.

"You have your mother's eyes," he said. "But I like them better on you."

Meanwhile, in his study, Albus Dumbledore was pacing again. He knew what he had to do. He needed to have Severus bring the girl. She was the only one who could help.


	13. Visiting the Headmaster

**Hi! I'm excited for this chapter- its where all the good stuff starts**** but anyway… im thirteen now! I had a pretty awesome bday, just so you know. Haha… well… got nothing else to say. Enjoy!**

Evolynn's feet didn't touch the floor of Dumbledore's office. She was sitting in a large chair opposite Dumbledore at his desk. She had arrived just moments ago and was fidgeting around awkwardly. Snape had been excused from the office. Dumbledore sat there and watched there for a while with his crinkled blue eyes.

"I don't suppose you know why you are here do you?" he asked.

Of course I don't know, thought Evolynn. What a dumb thing to ask. Severus had just dragged me out of bed this morning and said that you wanted to speak with me. But she held her tongue, remembering what Severus had told her before they had left: that Albus Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard of all time and not to make any smart remarks to him. Silently, she shook her head.

He seemed satisfied with this. He sank back into his chair and watched her for another few moments to think. More than a month had passed since he had decided that he needed to speak with her. It was mid-November now. Outside there was snow whipping around the castle walls and wind could be heard whistling through the trees of the Forbidden Forest.

The interested look on his face made Evolynn think that he wasn't going to say anything else, so she took it upon herself to make conversation.

"Do I get to come here next year? I'm ten now. Severus said that next year he will teach potions again and I'll go to school."

This came to Albus as a shock. The girl thought she was going next year, and sp did Severus. But she had just turned ten, and you had to be eleven to go to Hogwarts.

"No, my dear," he said, "you will attend Hogwarts the year after next. I am correct in assuming that you have just turned ten, yes?"

When her face fell, Albus felt a pang of sympathy. She looked crestfallen. "But then where will I go?" she asked quietly. She had lost all of the spunk she had had just seconds ago.

Without considering it, Albus said, "Well, I suppose you will stay with Severus for another year. But we have other matters to discuss now. I want to tell you some things about you and your brother, Harry."

"Okay."

"I assume that Severus has told you about the night Lord Voldemort murdered your parents," he said. "Please Evolynn, I hope you will not be shocked at my use of his proper name," he said at her shocked expression.

"Yeah, he told me some stuff. That they were looking for my brother because some lady saw the future about him, and how my family was in hiding and stuff." It was clear she was uncomfortable talking about this. She kept tucking her red hair behind her ears and biting her lip.

"Yes, this is all true. But there is one major thing that you are missing-"

"I knew it!" she nearly shouted, shooting her fist up in the air. She had been sure that there was some piece of the puzzle that she was missing. Albus chuckled.

"Yes, Severus did not tell you everything, but on my instructions. I thought that I should be the one to tell you, seeing that I was the one present when the prophecy was made. But, you will have to be disappointed yet again. I have decided that you and Harry will both know of the prophecies about you if or when there is need."

This was just annoying. Here she was, all excited, and now she was to wait _again_. Plus she had just learned that she wasn't going to Hogwarts for two years.

Not her best day.

"But," said Dumbledore, "I will tell you one thing: your parents knew of the prophecy. They only told a few people about you because of it. They didn't want the secret to get out, because of it did, he would have killed you."

Alrighty then.

"But people do know about me," she said. "When we went to Diagon Alley and all the people in the pub wanted to shake my hand, and everyone was whispering about me."

"Well, yes, when Lord Voldemort was gone and the word got out that he had been stopped by a one year old boy, people were astounded. They were also fairly amazed that a practically newborn baby girl was found in the wreckage of the house. And, shall we say that it snowballed from there?" He ginned at her. Evolynn liked that. She felt like he knew her, even though they had just met.

"Now," he said. He cleared his throat and leaned forward. "There is a more pressing matter before us. Have you ever tried to use magic?"

"Not on purpose. I've done it on accident, though." She thought back to when she had sent Dudley flying across the reptile house at the zoo and almost laughed. That was funny.

"And, you have some very developed powers, I would say." She snapped out of her daydream.

"Uh… I guess. I haven't really noticed. Is that normal?"

"Not really."

"Is it bad?" she asked; panic bubbling up inside her stomach.

"No, no, my dear. In fact, it will be of much assistance. Severus hasn't told you about what is hidden in our school, has he?"

She shook her head.

"I thought not. The Sorcerer's Stone is hidden in our castle, and someone is going to try to steal it. I will not tell you who, but I will tell you that Severus is working very hard to protect it. That is where he is going when he leaves the house." He smiled. "Severus told me that his unexplained absences where greatly bothering you.

"How does this have anything to do with me?" she asked.

"Well, it starts with your brother. It has come to my attention that he is highly suspicious about the whole thing. He and some friends discovered the guardian of the Stone and from then on he has been doing his best to learn the truth. He, like you, will not stop until he knows the whole story. I am certain that he will discover about the Stone."

"I still don't see how this involves me."

"I am getting there, dear girl I am getting there. Severus and I are certain that Harry will discover what the Stone is and where it is hidden. He will also have his suspicions about who is after it. At the moment, your godfather is a prime suspect."

Evolynn was about to defend Severus, but stopped herself. He did seem like kind of a shifty guy if you didn't know him.

"I am here to assure you though, that whatever Harry tells you about Snape is not true. I know that you know who he really is. But Severus will be protecting the Stone. And you are needed in that protection."

"_What?" _Evolynn knew what the Sorcerer's Stone was. She had read about it in a book somewhere, and she knew that it was a highly valuable item that she didn't want the responsibility for.

"Yes. But that is all for today. Would you send Severus in on her way out, please?"

"Couldn't you please just tell me a little more?"

"No, not today. I will talk to you again soon, Evie. Goodbye."

As frustrated as she was, she couldn't help but return his warm smile as she exited the room.

Snape was standing in the hallway, waiting for her.

"He wants to talk to you," she said.

"I will be right back," he said quietly. Anyone else would have thought the tone to be mean, but Evolynn was used to it. It just meant he was in a hurry and wanted to get home.

She grinned up at him.

"Did you speak with her?" Snape asked.

"Yes. She is a smart thing, Severus. And sweet. You are lucky to have her."

"Yes, but does she know?"

"She knows what she needs to know. Now, you are aware of hoe old she is, correct?"

"Of course I am, Albus," Snape said impatiently. "She just turned ten in October."

"Then you are aware of the fact that she will not be attending Hogwarts until the year after next?"

Snape was silent. How could he have overlooked this? "Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

Albus smiled. "Well, you could take another year off teaching, or you could send her back to live with her aunt and uncle of course."

"Of course I will take off the year," he snapped.

Albus' eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Well, I believe that will be all for today. Thank you, Severus."

Snape nodded curtly as he walked out the door. Was it a bad thing that he was almost pleased that he had a whole extra year with the girl?

When Evolynn got home, there was a letter on her bed. Her heart leapt- it was from Harry! The two had been sending regular letters back and forth since her birthday. She was counting the days till she got to see him at Christmas. She tore open the letter and read it to herself.

She looked up in shock. Rage burning inside her, she turned and ran from her room, down the stairs and back into the parlor where Snape now spent a lot of his spare time. When she burst into the room with tears threatening in her eyes, Snape looked up from the Daily Prophet. He looked annoyed by the disruption at first but the look softened ever so slightly when he saw her face.

"What, Evolynn?"

"Harry's not coming for Christmas."


	14. New Dress

**Yes, I know. Back so soon? Why yes, I am back tonight with another chapter! Yeah, im on vacation and I like to update a lot when im on vacation. Hope y'all like it! **

** Hehe… I said y'all **

Evolynn's heart was crushed. He had promised. What could be so important that Harry wasn't coming to see her? She supposed that part of it was that he didn't like Severus- even though they had never even met. Or maybe he just wanted to spend time with his new friends.

To be honest, it wasn't a big shock to Severus that the boy wasn't coming. He had never really thought that he would. Harry Potter must be as flaky and unreliable as his father.

And now he hated him even more since he had hurt Evolynn.

He stood up and walked over to Evolynn. She was biting her lip in rage and trying to hold back angry tears. Severus gingerly placed a cold hand on her shoulder. Evolynn relaxed as he gripped her shoulder. She wiped her tears away a little too forcefully, and ended up looking like she was hitting her eyes. When she looked up at Snape, they stared at each other for a few minutes before Snape looked away.

That night, Evolynn tossed and turned for a few hours before falling asleep. What had Dumbledore meant when he said that Evolynn had "very developed powers?" She made a mental note to remember to ask Severus in the morning.

Severus was up late that night too. He sat in his study, thinking about Harry Potter, and James Potter. His mind kept going back to James Potter strutting around the hallways with his intolerable arrogance- and now his son doing the same.

The other thing that was weighing on his mind was the idea that he had to take off another year. Not that he wasn't kind of pleased that he could have another year with the girl all to himself, (that was the strangest thing he had ever thought, but still,) but he couldn't go without a job for two whole years. That, for obvious reasons, was not going to work. Maybe he could teach and then Floo home every day. Yes, that would just have to work.

Because there was no way Evolynn would go back to the Dursleys'.

In the morning, the two sat at breakfast in the usual silence for a long time. Longer than usual. She spent most of the meal brooding over the fact that Harry didn't seem to care enough about her to come and see her over Christmas vacation. Evolynn sort of picked at her eggs and bacon until Severus was just getting up to leave.

"Why did he say I have developed powers?"

"Who?" asked Snape.

"Mr. Dumbledore. He said that I have highly developed powers and that I was going to be useful for protecting the…" she looked behind her shoulder, "the You-Know-What." She winked. Snape didn't seem to understand.

That, or he just wanted to frustrate her. Probably the latter.

Evolynn sighed. "The Sorcerer's Stone!" she exclaimed. He said I'm supposed to help you protect it."

Severus fixed her with a cold glare. "You will help me if I need it. But that is highly unlikely so just forget the whole matter. I wish Albus hadn't said anything at all to you." He meant this whole-heartedly. All it would bring were more unpleasant and awkward questions to be thrown at him.

"But what about the highly developed-"

He didn't even want to hear the rest of the sentence. "All it means is that you are going to be a very talented witch. That is all, Evolynn. Now if you feel like it, I would greatly appreciate you getting off your backside and joining me. We have to go to Diagon Alley today." His voice was so sarcastic Evolynn could almost see it coming out of his mouth. She could also tell that going shopping was the last thing he wanted to do today.

But she, on the other hand, was thrilled at the prospect of going to Diagon Alley. She loved watching all the people use magic and looking in all the shops. Her favorite, of course, was the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts. In that store were hours and hours of reading materials, just waiting to be bought and read over and over again. But then, Severus would never buy her books. He didn't buy her anything. As he had said the very first day she had arrived, he would supply her with necessities, and the buying of frivolous objects would not be accepted. She thought about bringing up the fact that books were not frivolous, but it would be pointless. Evolynn kept this to herself but she was pretty sure that Galleons weren't really all that abundant with Snape. For this reason, she felt a little guilty about keeping him from working for another year. But she didn't think about this for too long. She was too excited about getting out of the house.

This was understandable seeing as there wasn't much else to do at Spinner's End other than read and just kinda sit around. The house was fine enough but there wasn't really much interest in it. Really, besides the some fancy things like the chandelier and the wide staircase, everything else was rather dusty and rundown. In the sitting room off the main corridor, the threadbare sofa looked as if it hadn't been in use for years. She hadn't noticed it when she first arrived, but the general depressing air of the place was much more apparent now. Evolynn assumed that the house itself was very old. She had her suspicions that it was where Severus had grown up.

One day, before it had gotten cold, Evolynn had gone outside and wandered around the neighborhood. She had soon discovered that there were no other kids in the neighborhood- just old Muggles who yelled at her for not having her head covered.

As she walked out the door and to the apparating spot, this was all on her mind. When they reached the usual spot outside the gate, Evolynn braced herself and grabbed Snape's arm. She held her breath.

"No, wait!" she said just before Snape was about to leave. He rolled his eyes and looked down at her like she was the most aggravating thing that ever walked the earth. "What do you need now?"

"Can't we take the fireplace? Please?" Her green eyes begged him to accept her plea.

"No." Simple as that- just plain old no.

"Why not? I really don't like apparition and it makes me feel like I'm going to-"

But before she could finish her sentence, they were gone. When they appeared seconds later outside the Leakey Cauldron, they all Evolynn could do was glare up at him. Snape noticed that she was looking pretty green.

They walked into the pub and the same whispering could be heard again. But this time, no one came up to shake her hand. Evolynn reminded that the novelty had probably worn off since she hadn't really done anything special, just been born without anyone knowing.

They passed through the pub and through the magical brick wall into Diagon Alley. They walked down the snow-covered street and down to Flourish and Blotts. When Snape slowed, Evolynn's heart jumped, but he walked right past the bookshop and on to the shop next door. The sign above the door read: Madam Malkin's Robes of all Occasions.

"What are we doing here?" Evolynn asked. As she said it, she noticed that she was shivering uncontrollably. She wasn't wearing a coat- just the same old ugly black dress. The black stockings didn't do much either. In fact, they almost made it worse. They felt cold against her legs.

Snape looked resentfully at the shop for about thirty seconds. Then he turned and looked down at his goddaughter. He held out his hand palm up, and inside it were ten galleons. "Go into the shop and buy a new dress. That one is too short." He said it like an order, but Evolynn could tell that he was trying his best to make her feel better.

Evolynn went in and purchased a green dress with long sleeves and a pleated skirt. As she bought it, Madam Malkin had to stop herself from laughing at how excited the little girl looked- like she had never bought something for herself before. She didn't know it, but this was completely true.

When she walked out, she grabbed onto Snape's hand. It was cold from being outside too long, and also just naturally. Snape looked around before relaxing his hand and letting her hold it all the way back to the pub.

But he let go there. He still had some dignity.


	15. Merry Christmas

**This is a nice and long one. It's about Christmas, but people start to decorate for the holidays in October so on the scale of things I'm not too early… it's twice as long as normal, and probably my favorite one yet. Enjoy **

** Oh and btw- I have got a suggestion from a reader to do a little Drevolynn (Draco/Evolynn) Just a cute little thing. Let me know if u like cuz if not, I'll stop. Thx!**

November passed in a blur of cold, bleak days. Severus was gone for most of them, and a good deal of the ones up until the days of Christmas break. Evolynn sat in her room, reading, watching the snow, and occasionally going down to visit Mitzi in the kitchens. This was an idea that Mitzi had needed some getting used to, but now she enjoyed Mistress Evie's frequent visits. The elf would give the girl a bottle of Butterbeer and Evolynn would sit on the stool and talk to Mitzi while she prepared dinner.

Now that Evolynn knew where Severus was going, she didn't mind him leaving. Actually, she kind of liked him being gone- she could slide down the banister as much as she liked! But even that got old. There were only so many times you could slide down a railing before your stomach started to hurt.

She was still upset that Harry wasn't coming; but not in the same way she had been a few weeks ago. Her hurt feelings had been replaced with anger and resentment. But she had still tried to write to him, to have the reassurance that he still thought about her, still missed her. For a while, the letters had kept coming- two or three every week. But then they became scarce, maybe one a week. But then the scarce letters became scarcer, and now it had been a long time since she had gotten a response.

She wasn't really sad about this. Or hurt. She was angry that her brother didn't even care enough to write to her. It was hard to imagine something that would be so important to take the place of your only sister.

But whatever. She had moved on. There were other things to think about, like the Sorcerer's Stone. Although on a huge empty house (well, not really empty, there was Mitzi) it was hard to think about enchanted stones that could make you live forever. Especially when your brother didn't care about you.

No! she told herself. You can't think like that. It's not important. He's there, you're here. You have to just move on.

Christmas was coming up. Evolynn remembered some of the Christmases she had had in the past. She and Harry had normally received a hanger or a partnerless sock or something like that. They had sat on an armchair and watched Dudley eat plates of ham and stuffing, roast potatoes and pudding. Then he had moved on to his presents (his Christmas Eve presents- he would get the other half the next morning) and shoved them in their faces, loving that he was more "important" than them.

The Dursleys had always had a large tree with many different colors of ornaments. Dudley had spent an evening every year decorating the tree. Harry and Evolynn had been sent upstairs. For two years in a row, Evolynn had cut some branches off an Evergreen tree in the schoolyard and snuck them home, turning them into a little tree in her and her brother's room. But then Uncle Vernon found out.

Need I say more?

Evolynn used to think about what Christmas would be like at Severus' house. But she had decided that it wouldn't be a big thing. A Christmas tree would be out of place in the cold, dark house.

In her foul mood, the shabbiness of the house had become more and more apparent. She noticed just how threadbare the house was, how dusty the bookshelf in the parlor was. She often sulked around the place, pointing out the downfalls of the house. It didn't make her feel any better, but it was just the easiest thing to do when she was all alone and crabby.

When Christmas break started and Severus stopped going away so much, he noticed Evolynn's bitterness. She wasn't the chatty, bright little girl he had come to… not love, but… mildly enjoy the presence of, but she was a moody, quiet little thing.

And that was not going to work. It just wasn't.

At dinner, after Mitzi had left them, Severus watched Evie push her food around on her plate for almost the whole meal. Her lovely green eyes stared down at the table and she kicked her legs around irritably. Severus couldn't stand it. Drastic times called for drastic measures, and now he had to do something. It was another thing he would never thought he would do, but a lot of things were different now. He took a deep breath and said,

"Evolynn, you have been utterly unpleasant lately and I will not allow it. You have one chance to tell me what is bothering you, or you can simply drop it. Take your pick."

Ha! She thought. Look who's talking! _I'm u_tterly unpleasant? But instead she said, "You noticed? Yeah, well, it's hard not to be a little depressed when your only brother doesn't even care enough about you to answer your letters."

"You aren't still upset that he isn't coming for Christmas, or you? Because it isn't worth your time and energy," he said. Severus was getting tired of having to console her about that. It had been over a month, and she was still moody about that? The girl would need a severe attitude adjustment.

"No, I'm angry that he doesn't even care about me. It's been a week since he responded to my last letter." To Evolynn's astonishment, for a split second there was a flash of sympathy on Severus's cold face. But that was replaced by a look of set determination. He didn't say anything but the look was surprisingly consoling to her. It made her feel good that he was angry at the person who hurt her. She didn't know why, but it did.

"Well? Are you going to do something about it?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Severus. What on earth did she expect him to do about it?

"I don't know. I just thought that you would… punish him or something." But then she smiled. So maybe Harry had bailed on her, but she knew Severus wouldn't. He _actually _cared about her (even though he would never, ever say it) and he wouldn't ditch her when he found something better.

She scooted her chair back and ran over to where Severus was sitting. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and stood there for a long time. Eventually, she felt Severus' slowly hug her back. She smiled. When she let go, she smiled even wider when she saw that Snape wasn't scowling- not smiling by any stretch of the imagination. But it was definitely progress.

On Christmas Eve, Mitzi spent the whole day in the kitchens. She didn't even have time to make breakfast or lunch, so Severus and Evolynn had leftovers from the day before. Evolynn spent most of the day in her room, working on her gift for her godfather. She was really excited to give it to him. She had written to some of his… friends… no- colleagues. Severus didn't really have _friends._ But she had written to some of his _colleagues _for the supplies and had had very rewarding results. It turned out that some of the people had known her mother and father, and were very willing to help.

Severus was out of the house until around 4:00, when he came home and got into his dress robes. When he was wearing them (Evolynn didn't even notice that he was at first- they looked almost just like his normal ones) he came into her room and handed her a package wrapped in brown paper. Thankfully, Evolynn had finished his gift and it was safely hidden beneath her bed, wrapped and all. Now she was rereading _Hogwarts, a History _for the millionth time.

"What is that?" she asked. He didn't seem the type to mix up dates. "Tomorrow is Christmas! Not today." She laughed. Since that night a few weeks ago, she had become her normal self again (other being angry at her brother) and was laughing and talking too much again.

"It is not a gift. They are dress robes," he explained. At her questioning look he added, "the Malfoys are coming over tonight and you needed something nice to wear.

"I have my green dress. Can't I please wear that?" she protested. She knew it was ungrateful, but the last time Severus had bought her clothes she had ended up with the most horrendous dresses ever. She didn't need Draco Malfoy seeing her in something like that.

"You will wear them and I don't want to hear another word about it," he snarled. Evolynn sighed and made a show out of getting out of her chair and walking over to where Severus stood. She took the parcel and waited until Severus had walked downstairs before making a show out of closing the door as well.

But when she unwrapped the brown paper, she got an immense surprise. Inside was a beautiful, flowing dress of pale pink taffeta. It had thin straps and a fitted bodice and a layered, swishy skirt. It went down to Evolynn's knees, and it was probably the most beautiful dress she had ever seen.

As she ran her fingers down it, she realized that Severus had picked this out special for her, and he must have put a lot of effort into finding a nice one. She smiled, thinking of Severus buying a little girl's dress. But she was also smiling in appreciation and sheer happiness.

I love Christmas, she thought.

When she had donned the blue dress, she walked downstairs to show Severus how it looked. When he wasn't in the dining room, she knew that he was in the parlor. That had pretty much become "their place" where they both went if they had some spare time and didn't want to sit in their rooms.

She loved the way her dress swished when she walked. Just to see what would happen when she did, she twirled around in a circle. The skirt whirled around with her. She smiled and ran down to the parlor.

When she got there, she burst into the room, eager to gain Severus' approval. When Severus saw her, glowing with pride and anticipation, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was unbelievable that this was the same little girl that he had brought home from the house on the rock, the same little baby that had had held in Godric's Hollow. He tried not to think like this, like a cheesy old father, but it was no use.

She was so… big! And pretty. She looked just like Lily. And he couldn't help but notice that she was still wearing the lily pendent that he had given her for her birthday. Of course, she was still the little Evie that she had been fifteen minutes ago, with her ling red hair flowing down her back, unbrushed, and a scab on her left knee (though where she could have managed to get that) but she looked so… different in the dress.

"You look very nice, Evolynn. I like the dress."

She giggled. "I would think that you'd like it. You bought it!" She turned and ran out of the room. But she hadn't gone halfway down the hall before she turned and came running back. "Is Draco coming too?" she asked.

"Yes, Evolynn, he is coming. And I expect you to wish him a merry Christmas." As Evolynn grimaced, she was pretty sure that Severus would enjoy making her do it.

Mitzi had, to Evolynn's complete and utter disbelief, set up a Christmas tree. There was garland and ornaments and a star at the top. It was in the living room, next to the threadbare sofa. But with the tree in there and the general happiness that came with the holidays, it didn't seem quite so threadbare.

Evolynn dashed down just before the Malfoys arrived and placed her gift under the tree. She didn't think there had ever been presents under a tree in the Snape house. But that was one Snape tradition that Evolynn was determined to change.

The Malfoys arrived around 8:00. Since the introductions had already been made the last time they were there, there was much less standing around in the hallway. The party progressed into the dining room almost right away.

Snape took his normal seat at the head of the table. Lucius sat to his left and Narcissa next to him. Evolynn took her usual seat on Snape's right and Draco sat next to her. There was the same conversation for a while, the two men talking about stuff at the Ministry, and Narcissa occasionally commenting. Draco sometimes would make a snide comment to Evolynn, to which she responded by rolling her eyes. Evolynn was (as vain as it was) admiring how her new dress looked on her. To her horror though, she noticed Draco staring admirably at it once or twice as well. When she caught him staring, he flushed and looked down at his ham and green beans.

The dinner was fantastic. Evolynn winked at Mitzi and the elf blushed, running into the kitchen, but she knew that the compliment had been received.

When dinner was done and pudding had been eaten, they all moved into the living room. The three arm chairs were occupied by the adults and Draco and Evolynn were left with the sofa. Evolynn cast a pleading look at her godfather, but he returned it with a look that plainly said, "Don't try me." So Evolynn sat next to Draco Malfoy, who didn't seem to mind it at all. She spent a good deal of the evening trying not to let her bare arm touch Draco's.

As the Malfoys were leaving, Severus pulled Draco aside. He made a face closest to smiling that Severus Snape could do and said, "She's pretty isn't she?" His black eyes almost seemed to laugh. Draco glared at him and dashed out the door.

Evolynn felt her cheeks flame. Of all the times to develop a sense of humor, why did it have to be now?

The next morning, Evolynn was bursting with excitement to give Severus his gift. He was going to love it. She darted down the stairs in her nightgown with her hair in knots, not even pausing to slide down the banister. She was found Severus just where she had expected to find him. She saw that he had used magic to move the tree into parlor, and there he sat, fully dressed, seemingly waiting for her.

Evolynn saw that along with the tree, her gift had been moved- but now it was not alone. There was one other package sitting there. But right now, she didn't even care what it was. She just wanted Severus to open his.

Without saying anything, she handed him the parcel. He looked unsure what to do with it. Ha sat for a moment, staring at it.

"Well go ahead, open it!" Evolynn exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet she was so excited. Grinning ear to ear, she watched him awkwardly open the package.

He took a sharp inhalation. In his hands he held a book.

A scrapbook.

It was filled with pictures of Lily, of Lily, Harry, and Evolynn, of Evolynn's whole family, of her and Harry, and on the very last page, a shot of Lily and Severus in their Hogwarts robes- the Gryffindor and the Slytherin, sitting by the Black Lake.

Severus didn't know what to say. When he finally reached the last page with him and Lily, he swallowed. When he looked up at Evolynn, who was beaming with anticipation, his eyes were brimming with tears, of all things. But he couldn't help it.

Evolynn's face fell when she saw his expression. "You don't like it?"

Snape couldn't speak for fear of his voice giving away how he felt. When he finally collected himself, he said, "Thank you so much."

Evolynn came over and gave him a hug. "Any day." And after a moment, "Now can I open mine?"


	16. One More Gift

**Happy Thanksgiving all! I'm back again to update for the third day in a row I think (still on vacation) and I hope u like it**

**Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed**

"Just wait," he said. "Where did you get these?" he asked in a dazed sort of way. He kept staring down at the pictures of Lily.

She grinned. "It took a long time to get the photos. First I had to write to Mr. Dumbledore to find out-"

He interrupted her. "You actually sent Albus a letter?" he said, both amused and taken aback. The girl had quite a bit of nerve to send the headmaster of Hogwarts a letter as if he was an old friend.

"Well, yeah," she said in a confused tone. "Why is that bad?"

"Never mind, just go on." He was genuinely interested in hoe she had gotten her hands on all of these photographs.

"Well…" she said, drawing it out very long and enjoying the attention she was getting, "I asked Mr. Dumbledore if he knew who your friends were from school and if they had any pictures of you and my mum or of my mum and me or something. He said that you didn't have very many friends that weren't in prison and those that the ones who weren't in prison weren't the picture taking type." She paused to giggle. She seemed to find the thought very amusing. When she had collected herself, she continued. "Anyway, he gave me the names of some of my parents' friends and said that they might have some."

She paused for breath. The little girl was so excited that she was losing air from talking so quickly.

"He also said that he had some pictures that he had found in my old house after, after… you know." Severus could tell that she hated mentioning that night. "All the pictures with me in them are from him," Evolynn added. That answered a question that Snape had been wondering about. "But most of the other ones were from my mum and dad's friends." She stopped here to check for approval. When she saw that she had earned it, she repeated her question from earlier.

"Now can I open mine?"

Severus rolled his eyes and gestured to the package under the tree. Evolynn scrambled over to it and eagerly tore the paper away. Inside was a framed picture-the same that she had seen in the envelope that had contained the letter that she had taken from Severus' study. There was Lily, holding Evolynn as a tiny baby, waving her fists around to make it look like she was waving. The baby version of herself was unusually alert for such a little baby. Her eyes were open and looking from person to person with interest, as if she was trying to memorize every detail. Lily would look down every now and then and laugh warmly, then kiss the baby's forehead gently.

It was strange to think that Evolynn had been that little baby once- that she could have had that. That she could have had a mother hold her like that all her life.

A white envelope was lying on the ground under the tree not far from where the package had been. She looked questioningly up at Severus, and he nodded to let her know that this was also for her.

Evolynn opened the envelope slowly so she wouldn't tear its contents. When she saw what it held, she gasped in shock and amazement. There were about four other photos in there, all taken on the same night, probably. One was of one-year-old Harry clumsily holding his baby sister, one of just Evolynn alone, waving her fists around and gurgling, one of Lily, sitting on the sofa with her two children, beaming from ear to ear, and lastly, one of a much younger and more cheerful looking _by far_… Severus. And he was holding little Evie in his arms, occasionally looking down at her in a sort of amazed way. It was so strange to see him like that.

She noticed there were no pictures of her father.

After a long time, she gazed back at Severus. They locked eyes, and the "thank you" was made there. The two of them had a way of interpreting each other's looks without saying a thing.

"I guess we had sort of the same idea," she said quietly, not looking up from the pictures. Severus' gaze shifted around the room. He nodded. "Where did you get these?" she asked.

"She sent them to me," he said. "Just before she died. I had, err, come to your house a few days after you were born." Evolynn smiled. The idea of Severus making a house call was funny to her- especially one to see a little baby! Severus caught the look and added quickly, as if embarrassed by the thought, "She wanted me to come and see you. It was very important to her."

"I don't know what to say," she said lamely.

"It's okay. I know how you feel."

The two of them had breakfast together before Evie went upstairs to get dressed. On her way up the stairs, she found herself thinking about, as much as she detested the thought, Draco Malfoy. Ever since last night, she had had a hard time pushing him out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. She kept thinking about how he had seemed so eager to sit next to her both at dinner and after. Last night, she had greatly resented it, but now she was almost starting to think otherwise. Maybe he wasn't as bad Evolynn had thought. Maybe the snide comments had been meant to impress her, but he didn't know how to say it nicely without being obvious. Evolynn searched her brain, trying to remember if there was anything he had said that might have been a hint that he fancied her…

NO! she nearly screamed at herself. This cannot happen! He's arrogant and mean and just plain rude! She banged her palm up against her forehead as if to rid herself of any thoughts about Draco Malfoy. All it did was hurt just a little.

It didn't get rid of Draco, though.

Snape too, was thinking about Draco throughout the day. He had certainly seemed interested in his goddaughter last night, in an eleven-year-old way, but still. He had taken the opportunity to humiliate the boy, but in the back of his mind, he didn't like it.

At all.

Evolynn is only a child, he thought. Much too young to be involved with boys. Again he was thinking like an overprotective father, but he simply couldn't help it. She was only ten years old.

Why did he care so much?


	17. Not Well Worded

**Read****and****review****please!**

Evolynn hated herself for caring so much that her brother hadn't written her back in a whole month. She had finally gained usage of the Severus' owl and had sent Harry three letters in the past two weeks.

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Maybe the owl didn't know where Harry was. Maybe it was delivering the letters to some random person who was terribly confused at why they were receiving letters from a random little girl. Maybe Harry was angry at Evolynn for not sending him any letters.

But then again, if this was the case, Harry could always send her a letter and sort it all out. Still, she wanted t see if her hypothesis about the owl getting lost could be true.

"Severus?" she asked him one evening at dinner. There was barely any awkwardness between them any longer. It wasn't like he was all warm and fuzzy or anything. That would simply be uncomfortable and all the awkwardness would be back.

"What?" replied her godfather. He looked up from the roast beef and steamed broccoli on his plate long enough to see that she was really thinking something over.

"Do owls ever get lost?"

"Never."

Her face fell. The hopeful look she had had was gone. "Never? There's no way?"

"No way."

"Do owls _always_deliver letters to people? Every single time?"

"Every single time. Why are you asking this?"

So Harry was getting her letters. He was choosing not to write back. A lump in her throat started to form. She had to whisper in order not to give away that she was crying. "Nothing. Just wondering."

But Severus had a pretty good idea of what was going on. "Has your brother not responded to you?" he demanded. This boy was shaping up to be worse that his father. The nerve! How could anybody ignore a their little sister like that? Especially when it was Evolynn?

She shook her head. There was an embarrassed look on her face as if he had done something wrong, or was ashamed to be causing trouble. "He hasn't written back in over a month."

Severus was disgusted. It might as well be the reincarnation of James Potter himself. Again the image of James strutting around the hallways flashed through his mind. Just wait until he was back next year teaching potions. He would make his rotten little life miserable. Just wait.

Speaking of that, he had spoken with Albus, and would be resuming his teaching post at Hogwarts the following year. It was a relief. When he had accepted the responsibility of taking in Evolynn he had forgotten that she would cast extra Galleons to feed and clothe and satisfy all of her other little girl needs. Albus had given him half a year's salary to life off of (in addition to savings and things like that) but there was no way he would be able to live like this for a whole year more before Evolynn went to Hogwarts.

But there was a slight catch. Albus wouldn't allow him to Floo home every night. Only on weekends. So arrangements had been made for Evolynn to stay at the Burrow, the Weasley place. Albus had chosen them since they had been part of the Order of Phoenix. Not to mention that Molly Weasley had raised seven children. Personally, Severus wasn't really a fan of the idea, but Evolynn couldn't stay at Spinner's End all on her one. Well, the house elf would be there, but that wasn't exactly a suitable guardian. And besides, he would be home on weekends and he would pick her up every time.

He decided not to say any more about the matter with her brother since there was nothing he could do about it. The girl needed to know about what would happen next year.

"I am going to go back to work next year." he said. It would be pointless (and just harder) to try and butter it up.

"WHAT?" she almost screamed. "You're sending me back to them?"

"No-" he said quickly, but Evolynn didn't want to hear it. This was just too much. First Harry, now Severus.

"I should have known! Can't I trust anyone?" Severus tried to protest but she wouldn't listen. Her face was wet now with hurt tears and her eyes were blazing with rage. Before she left, she turned around, hair whipping behind her. Her voice shook with tears. "I thought I could trust you." Severus opened his mouth but she had ran up the stairs before he could say a thing.

Severus Snape had only ever regretted saying something so much one other time in his life. This was when he had called Lily a... the bad thing. He had never said the word since that day. But now he was regretting the decision, how he had worded the way he had told her.

Her reaction was completely reasonable when you thought about her past. The girl hadn't known anything but neglect from the time she was only a tiny baby. She had grown up with nothing to call her own, with no one who cared for her besides Harry. But she had lost Harry. Severus realized how much the girl had depended on him, not to mention how much she cared about him. In that moment, he realized that he had been a like a father to her.

And now she thought that he was leaving her too.

Severus could even relate to her about this. His own father had neglected him. And he had hated him for it. If Evolynn hated him now, he didn't know what he would do.


	18. Cross Your Heart

Severus massaged his temples and sat there in his seat with his eyes closed for a long time. He was contemplating wether to go and talk to Evolynn or to just let the girl be, hoping that this would result in her forgetting the matter and moving on. But of course, this would never happen. It was too big off an issue to be forgotten.

As he climbed the stairs, he silently cursed himself for messing everything up so badly. If only he had told her at another time, another place. It could have turned out so much better- or at least, not as such a disaster. This time around, he had to make sure that he made it clear that he wasn't leaving her behind or anything. Also that the whole reason he was doing it was for her. Didn't the girl want to eat? As Severus reached the door, he had to mentally remind himself not to loose his temper. It would only make it worse.

Without knocking, he slowly turned the doorknob and stepped into the room. The footsteps echoed around the quiet room. There, on the edge of her bed, sat Evolynn. She was silent, ignoring Snape's presence. She wasn't crying, her back was perfectly still. Her head was bowed. On closer inspection, Snape saw that she was looking at the pictures he had given her for Christmas. Specifically, the one of her and her brother. The toddler Harry was awkwardly trying to cradle his sister, who was staring up at him with wide, interested eyes, just like in the other picture.

"I know you're here," she said coldly. Her back remained turned, but Severus could almost feel the icy glare she was giving. It was the same one Lily had used. "Is there something you would like to say?" was her expectant answer. This time she whipped her head around, read hair flying in a glossy sheet behind her. Sure enough, there was the glare. Severus did his best not to return it.

"Firstly, I want you to know that you have no right to storm out of a room while I am speaking to you." This was responded to with another glare. "Secondly, I am not sending you back to your aunt and uncle's house." Evolynn started to say something, but Snape cut her off by snarling, "Let me finish." She shrank back at the use of this mean tone.

"You will not be going back to your relatives' house again. Not in the summer, not now, not ever. So you can stop thinking about that. During the time that I will be teaching next year, you will, quite unfortunately, be staying with a wizard family called the Weasleys."

"Why am I going there if it's 'quite unfortunate?'" She still looked very skeptical, though the somewhat murderous glare was gone now. Rolling his eyes, Snape said, "You will be living with the Weasleys for several reasons. For one, they have a daughter similar to your age or something like that. Secondly, they are considered a worthy family by Albus. And," with a glare of his own this time, "that should be good enough for the both of us. If there is one thing I can ingrain in your little girl mind, it is that you must always, no matter what, trust Albus. Is that perfectly clear?"

Slightly confused, she nodded. But the change of topic hadn't shaken her. "So I'm going to live with these random people for a year, just because Albus said so?"

"You must call him Professor Dumbledore."

"But, you called him Albus-"

"You are a child, I am an adult. And they are not complete strangers. Besides, I was a complete stranger, and you still came with me." His look had softened a bit.

Evolynn considered this. Yes, Severus had been a complete stranger when she had arrived here. This had turned out fairly well. Okay, very well. But that was the point. It had worked out very well. She didn't want to have to go. Not when it was all so perfect.

Almost perfect, anyways. But forget Harry right now.

When she looked up at Severus, she had to wipe her eyes with the back of her fists. She had given up her desperate struggle not to cry. "I don't want to leave you," she choked out.

Severus looked shocked. This little girl wasn't upset about the fact that she had to leave a permanent home, she actually didn't want to leave him.

Him.

"I'll... er... pick you up on the weekends," he mumbled. To his surprise, Evolynn let out a giggle. The tears were gone from her eyes and she was smiling. "You promise?" she asked.

"Promise what, Evolynn?"

"That you won't forget about me there?"

"Cross my heart."

She made an X over her chest and then waited for Severus to do the same. When he finally got the hint, he crossed his heart too. Then he wrapped his arms around her small shoulders. He whispered into the little girl's hair, "I wouldn't forget you. Don't forget that."

**Sorry, this one was super short and fluffy, but i just felt like some fluff today.**

**THANK YOU REVIEWERS**


	19. The Sorcerer's Stone

**I'm skipping a lot of time here, but this is the second-to-last chapter. (Don't worry, there will be a sequel. It's official!) but yeah, it went from january to april/may. oh and btw, if any of you are betas, PLEASE let me know.**

For the next months after Christmas, Severus was gone for the majority of the time during the weekdays. Evolynn again resorted to spending a lot of her time in the kitchens with Mitzi. The elf was surprisingly talkative while she worked. They talked about countless topics and spent afternoons pleasantly. But there are only so many things you can talk about with an elf. Around April, Evolynn was back to sulking around the house waiting for Severus to come home, waiting to hear from her brother. That never happened. She had stopped waiting for the letters that didn't come. It had stopped bothering her after a while.

At the end of April, Severus started to come home for nightly dinners. He was gradually home more and more. He and Evolynn spent a great deal of time together, as he seemed much less busy and as close to cheerful as he could get. One night as they sat in the parlor, both reading books, Evolynn remembered something she had meant to ask her godfather for a long time.

Putting down her book on herbology she said, "So when are you going to be needing my help? Mr. Dumbledore said you would be needing my astounding and well-developed powers for protecting the Sorcerer's Stone."

"My, aren't we feeling modest today?" he said sarcastically. But he grudgingly answered her question. "Albus seems to think that I am in need of your assistance. But I will assure you that the whole matter is too dangerous for a child. Drastic measures have been made to keep intruders away and the hiding place of the Stone is no place for a little girl like yourself. I don't want to hear another word on the subject."

Evolynn's face fell. She had been looking forward to fighting a little evil. She had had countless daydreams about it. It had given her something to think about while she was alone all winter.

"Okay... Well when will the person try to steal it?" she asked conversationally, as if she was asking wether or not it was raining outside.

"Albus doesn't think that it will be in any danger for the next few weeks, if at all. He is simply over-protective about the Stone. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

The subject was dropped. Well, for a few weeks anyway. Hints were dropped by the girl and ignored by her godfather. He refused to speak of the subject. Of course, Evolynn began to grow very frustrated with the refusal.

Severus wished desperately that Evolynn had never learnt about the Sorcerer's Stone. It was so dangerous for her to even know anything. Snape knew that his goddaughter would go to any means to get and learn what she wanted. It wan't necessarily a bad thing, but if anything happened to her; if she got hurt, Severus wouldn't know what to do. She had grown to mean the world to him. Not that he would ever tell her that. But it was absolutely, 100% true. So he didn't tell her when the day came for him to protect the Stone. He had to leave stealthily, trying very hard for the little girl down the hall to not hear him.

Yeah, that didn't work out so well.

Evolynn noticed all day that he had been distracted. Until late night when she heard the door click closed, she had laid on top of her bed, waiting. Then she jumped up and ran down to the shabby living room, and over to the fireplace. Sure enough, there was the little pot of gray powder. Taking a deep breath, she reached out to take a handful, but instead she let it slip through her fingers. Reassuring herself that she needed to go and help Severus, she gabbed up the ashy dust and stepped into the blazing emerald flames.

"HOGWARTS!" she said in a clear voice, though on the inside she was shaking and her knees were trembling.

Her body spun around in circles like a top, and if she looked really closely she could see flashes of other people's fireplaces, and then she fell roughly down into a very familiar fireplace in a very familiar round, empty office. Albus Dumbledore must be out somewhere, she thought. Still, she tiptoed as she left the office. As it was nighttime, nobody was out in the corridor. As she descended the beautiful spiraling stairs, she realized that she had no idea where she was going.

The decision to wander aimlessly ended up being a very good decision. Once, she thought she heard voices in the corridors around her. But nobody at all was there, so she kept on going. A while later, she did see someone. A few yards away from her was a man in a strange looking (and smelling) turban was sneaking around in the same manner as she. Deciding that they must be sneaking for the same reason, she followed him. Sure enough, after about ten minutes, they reached a dark, even more deserted corridor. Evolynn was shocked that the man didn't notice her, but he was too bust wringing his hands and occasionally talking to himself.

So when he looked over his shoulder before creaking over the door, Evolynn's heart almost stopped. Ducking back into the shadows of the corridor, she held her breath and waited until he stopped looking. Letting out the air in a sigh of relief, she slipped into the room after her. She was surprised to hear music in the room and saw in the corner that there was a harp playing music all by itself. Like one of those player-pianos, but not really.

But that was the very least of it. In the middle of the room was a dog. A big dog. A REALLY big dog. But that's not all. This giant dog had not one head, not two heads, but three heads. It was all Evolynn could do to not scream and run out of the the room in tears.

But then she noticed the key to this whole thing. The dog's huge paw was moved to reveal a trapdoor. Knowing then what she had to do, she swallowed hard. This was important. If she saved the Sorcerer's Stone, Severus would never doubt her again. Maybe he would trust her enough to let her stay at home; not sending her off to some random person's house. She wanted more than anything to stay with Severus.

To stay at home. Her home. She had realized that home was where family was. That was what got her through living with the Dursleys for ten years. She had had her brother. Her family. And now she had Severus, who was her real family.

You don't know what you have until you don't have it. Evolynn had known people who had fought with her family when she was in muggle school. And every time she saw that, she knew that if she had a family, she wouldn't do that. Now she had one and there was no way she was letting it slip through her family.

So, holding her breath, she jumped down that trapdoor.

When she landed, she was surprised that there was no pain. On her way down, she had braced herself for pain that didn't come. Instead, she was sitting in a pile of viney things. All was calm until she realized what the viney things were.

"Oh no!" she cried. This is not happening! Devil's Snare. But wait, no! Just don't freak out. Don't freak out, stay calm, stay calm. Then she fell.

And then the pain came. A searing pain shot through her ankle and she collapsed with the shear agony of it. Laying there, she noticed that she was crying. Standing was out of the question, she crawled. Yeah, she crawled. Crawled into the next chamber.

A slight buzz was going around the room. Looking up, she saw that there were little bird-like things flying around the ceiling. And in the corner, there was broom-stick. Again, she knew what she had to do.

It took everything she had to stand up and mount that broom. At the very beginning she had seen the key she needed to get. It shouldn't be hard.

Think again.

A blinding swarm of keys attacked her in a second. The last thing she saw before she fell was someone bursting in the door. She could have sworn she heard her name being called.

Severus ran over to Evolynn. She was unconscious, covered in little cuts and her ankle was visibly swollen. Lifting her carefully, as though he might break her more, Snape carried the little girl out of the chamber, through the corridors, and back home to Spinner's End.

Please don't let me lose her, he thought desperately.


	20. Epilouge

**Hey! So the time has come- the last chapter of the Potter Girl. It'll be more of an epilogue kind of thing, but still. Thanks to everyone who has been such a support while i was writing. **

**but watch for the next installment of Evie and Severus, which doesnt have a title quite yet, but if any of you guys have suggestions for it, id love to hear them... let me know by next week**

Her head hurt, small cuts on her face and arms stung, and she felt sick to her stomach, but Evolynn opened her eyes. It took her a while to figure out where she was, but after a brief moment of bleak confusion, she realized that she was out of the chamber with the flying keys, away from that killer plant, and out of that horrible place altogether. What had happened? All she remembered was falling off that broomstick, and her head banging on the ground.

Then she saw Severus. He was asleep in a chair that he must have conjured up because it hadn't been there when Evolynn left. He looked agitated even in sleep. Like someone who had been up all night waiting for something. Then she realized; he had been up all night with her, making sure she was okay. He must have found her in the chamber and brought her home.

Bolting up, she thought of something horrible- had she caused the stealing of the Stone? Had Severus been forced to help her instead of protect it? Dread flooded over her. How could she have been so stupid? But she had to lay back down from the pain in her head. She was dizzy and she was aching all over. After settling back in her bed, though she tried to resist it, Evolynn drifted back into sleep.

When she woke, Severus was awake too. Relief washed over his features when he saw Evolynn's eyes open. Crossing over to her bed, he accepted the hug that she gave him with no regret whatsoever.

"Thank God," he murmured.

A week later, Severus received word from Dumbledore that he would be allowed to Floo home nightly so that Evolynn would be able to stay home. Both he and the girl were delighted, but they showed it in separate ways. He in his cold, reserved way of announcing the matter over dinner, and her jumping out of her chair and running around the dining room a few times before giving him a hug. Then rushing off to tell the elf with joy in her wake.

Severus almost smiled. Yes, he concluded, this girl was growing on him.


End file.
